Life after Privacy
Reclaiming Democracy in a Surveillance Society

Privacy, which digital citizens eagerly relinquish, is not so essential to the health and welfare of democracy after all.

Firmin DeBrabander (Author)

9781108491365, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 September 2020

180 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.4 cm, 0.38 kg

'… if you are interested in contemporary debates over surveillance or data, this book will serve you well. Indeed, it is likely to generate some much-needed soul-searching, or perhaps even the deletion of an app or two. It will also be a valuable read for anyone keen to think through the relationship between democracy and the public sphere …' Everet Smith , Ethics and Information Technology

Privacy is gravely endangered in the digital age, and we, the digital citizens, are its principal threat, willingly surrendering it to avail ourselves of new technology, and granting the government and corporations immense power over us. In this highly original work, Firmin DeBrabander begins with this premise and asks how we can ensure and protect our freedom in the absence of privacy. Can—and should—we rally anew to support this institution? Is privacy so important to political liberty after all? DeBrabander makes the case that privacy is a poor foundation for democracy, that it is a relatively new value that has been rarely enjoyed throughout history—but constantly persecuted—and politically and philosophically suspect. The vitality of the public realm, he argues, is far more significant to the health of our democracy, but is equally endangered—and often overlooked—in the digital age.

Preface
1. Confessional Culture
2. Defenses of Privacy
3. Big Plans for Big Data
4. The Surveillance Economy
5. Privacy Past and Present
6. The Borderless, Vanishing Self
7. Autonomy and Political Freedom
8. Powerful Publics
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Law & society [LAQ], Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Ethical issues: scientific & technological developments [JFMG], Advertising & society [JFDV], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]