Senator: It’s OK for CIA to hack Americans, just not me! How hypocrisy frames privacy debate

Reuters.com (Click for story)
Reuters.com (Click for story)

Privacy is a funny thing. A lot of people are perfectly willing to take it away from other people, but get really angry when you take their privacy away.  Like Sen. Diane Feinstein. She unleashed a torrent of criticism today against the CIA, accusing the agency of hacking computers than belong to Congress.  Yes, this is the same Sen. Feinstein who has been the biggest defender of the electronic surveillance programs exposed by Edward Snowden.

In effect: It’s ok to take their privacy, but not mine!

This might seem like normal D.C. hypocrisy, but I think it’s a little bit more than that. It’s a learning moment.  I’ve been writing about privacy for a while, and one of the problems with privacy policy is that it’s a boring subject until it’s not. Having your privacy taken is a lot like being mugged. One day you think the neighborhood is perfectly safe, and no one can tell you otherwise; the next day it’s terribly dangerous.  One day you think invasions of privacy are no big deal, until it’s personal, and then it’s a very big deal.

Don’t take my word for it. More than 10 years ago Pew conducted a study that showed such hypocrisy is built into our discussion about privacy.  I wrote about it on MSNBC.com (now, NBCNews.com. The link appears dead, but here’s the relevant text cribbed from ConcurrentOpinions.com._

Ask people “Should the government be allowed to read e-mails and listen to phone calls to fight terrorism?” and you’ll get a much different result than if you ask, “Should the government be allowed to read your e-mails and listen to your phone calls to fight terrorism.” 

In 2002, The Pew Research Center for People and The Press asked just those questions — and by simply dropping the word “your,” the number of people willing to support such government snooping jumped by 50 percent. Only 22 percent were willing to let the government peek when it was personal, but 33 percent were willing when it sounded like only someone’s else privacy was at risk, said Scott Keeter, director of survey research for Pew.

In other words, your privacy isn’t very important, but mine is.  Wrong, Sen. Feinstein. And everyone else who thinks that way.  If we want to set good privacy policy, we have to be a little less self-absorbed.

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About Bob Sullivan 1640 Articles
BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

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