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Photo Essay - Feb. 3, 2019

Using the camera as a research tool - allowing observations and stories of the people to unfold in a visually provoking narrative 

We have a right to privacy... right? ​

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One of our basic inalienable rights in the U.S. is the right to privacy, but what is protected under that right has been up for debate for a long time. The word privacy comes with an expectation of secrecy, autonomy, and anonymity; the extent of which is up to the individual, but the definition of privacy in today’s world doesn’t seem to be a simple one. There are many working definitions of privacy, but one of the more robust ones appears to be the following:

 

"The right to privacy gives us the ability to choose which parts in [our] domain can be accessed by others, and to control the extent, manner and timing of the use of those parts we choose to disclose.” - Yael Onn, Privacy in the Digital Environment

 

The right to privacy has become an increasingly divided topic in today’s modern age fueled by the internet and big data. There are countless opportunities to gain access to information about individuals, which makes it seem that "privacy" is becoming less of a right and more of a privilege.

 

This contention around privacy piqued my interest about how different people think about it. In what contexts is it desirable? How much control do people think they actually have over their own privacy? I decided to explore how people control, or attempt to control, the amount of privacy they have in their life by focusing on one aspect: their living situations. I explored questions like, how do levels of privacy change in different living arrangements? What are methods people use to maintain privacy? What other factors does privacy depend on? The result of my curiosity is captured in the following photos:

After looking at these different lifestyles and choices, I am inclined to believe that privacy is often desired, but it costs money and resources to obtain. Wealthy neighborhoods are often walled off with cameras peering at visitors from every angle, while those who can't afford to build and buy their own privacy have to come up with slapdash means of control over their space. The supreme law of our country may grant an individual a fundamental right to privacy, but it seems to be transforming into more of a privilege granted to people with resources at their disposal. In essence, you can have the control over who knows what about you, but that control comes with a big price tag.

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