As we all know, democracy in simple means, a government for the people, by the people and of the people. Every factor that makes people feel empowered contributes to strengthening democracy. Privacy of an individual holds an important role that influences democracy directly or indirectly.
Privacy and security of an individual’s data and information is a thing of utmost importance. However, for undeniable reasons, we all know that nothing is private nowadays.
WE ARE BEING WATCHED, WE ARE UNDER SURVEILLANCE.
As most of us are aware of the fact that with the help of various means government and corporate sectors keep a watch on our actions due to which we are directly or indirectly forced to behave in a controlled manner.
POLITICS IS EVERYWHERE
There is no place left where things are not taking place according to a plan set by someone. It is surprising as well as shocking to note that various political agencies collect and analyse our data online based on which they influence our thought process. For example, if someone is a supporter of party X and opposes Y, then he would be shown with everything that states only goods of X and not of Y. It means that these agencies try to keep people misinformed, which mislead them to take wrong decision as they are not entirely aware of the reality.
Isn’t it shocking to note that most of the votes are influenced and decided before the elections by someone else who is a complete stranger to all of us?
‘Politics is a game of mind that plays with the mind.’
Not only the government but many corporate companies pay to various social sites for collecting and providing them personal information of its users. In short, we can say that our personal information has become part of their profit and business.
How does this happen?
Various agencies collect all our information like what are our likes and dislikes, what type of products attract us, which kind of information we read, and whatnot. These agencies then sell all the collected data to various corporate companies. This is how they make a profit by playing with the choices of our mind. Google and Youtube were also recently accused to have been sharing personal data of its users with the advertising companies.
What type of democracy is this?
How can we say that we are living in a pure democratic country when the core of democracy, i.e. people are getting influenced, misinformed and misled.
Leaking the private information of an individual and then using it to manipulate them just for making a profit is definitely not justified on any ground.
This manipulation and leaking process takes place with the mass of crores of people. Once the information gets leaked, there is no way back to restore or repair the loss or damage because it is incorrigible. We don’t even have any idea about the fact that how someone would use our personal information on the grounds of politics and business. Moreover, what loss it would cause to us by manipulating and changing our perspectives.
Can we even imagine the effect it creates when it takes place in such a big mass? How can we say that a country is purely democratic when people are misled and misinformed.
MORE PRIVACY Signifies MORE DEMOCRACY.
This is not a pure democracy where the fundamental rights of the people are not secured. People have to behave in a restricted manner because they know that their actions are being watched.
We can always demand privacy as it is our right. Asking for more effective privacy policies can help to avoid leakage. If it stops, then people will carry their own perspectives which will be formed out of real and actual facts.
Privacy of not only our personal data but our thought process, our mentality all is important. We don’t need a generation which is misled, but a generation which is informed, educated and well aware of the world.
