Ethical Assigment # 3

Is privacy a "right"?

Privacy is a fundamental human right established in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in many other international treaties, constitutions and laws from different nations. Privacy protects human dignity and other important principles such as freedom of association and freedom of speech. Among all the human rights, privacy is one of the rights that is most difficult to define and circumscribe.

When (if ever) is it right to intrude on another's privacy?  

In your post, please contextualize your ideas in relation to Allen or Warren and Brandeis (the two articles you read in advance of 2/21).

I agree with the idea that the author Anita Allen establishes: “I will call the anti-spying principle: spying on other adults is prima facie unethical”.  There are some specific cases in which it is ethically right to intrude on another’s privacy: “Spying on others is ethically permissible, even mandatory, in certain situations, where the ends are good” (Anita L. Allen, The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit). Such cases can be when somebody is a threat to the life of others or themselves and also when people are still not adults and need to be monitored by their legal tutors in order to be corrected or protected if necessary.

When spying is ethically necessary, it is imperative to emphasize the limits and to make sure the measurements in the act of spying are not beyond such limits plus that they are fairly justified. In our current times, we have seen this is the most difficult part because these limits are seen from different perspectives and are also hard to regulate due to the fast advancement of technology. We have also seen in modern times how the lack of such limits can allow a few powerful people to take advantage of the act of spying by exploiting the fear of entire populations. After recent acts of terrorism, many controversial laws have been approved in America and in other democratic nations which violate the supreme laws (constitutions of each country ) and also violate the established International Laws. Anita Allen explains: “Before spying, the efficacy of other, ethically less tainted and risky methods of obtaining the desired information should be ruled out.” We have seen that spying unjustifiable on the entire population of a nation does not prevent radicals from becoming terrorists and carrying out their awful inhuman acts. Why is everybody’s fundamental human right to privacy being violated when it has been clear that in order to prevent such horrible acts is beyond the scope of unethically spying on everybody.  As a matter of fact, this creates more clouds on the process because innocent people are wrongly accused and harassed causing more harm than good to our democracies. Even though there is not an easy solution to the issue of creating and regulating limits on the act of spying, I think it is very imperative to talk more about it and to demand more from our representatives in the governments, who are supposed to be working to protect our rights as citizens. The risks involved in a system that spies on everybody without any legal regulations, which can protect the citizens' rights established in the Constitution, can bring terrifying consequences which will affect all of us in every single aspect of our lives. 

Please discuss how you could apply your beliefs about privacy to a decision you might make about whether or not to apply techniques that you have learned in our course so far, such as Google dorking.

I recently had to spy on somebody for my Social Engineering Challenge, I think it was justified because it was one of the players and we are all aware that these strange things can happen to us, since we are all involved in the challenges.  
I have very clear and firm beliefs about privacy, therefore I would never unethically apply any of my knowledge to invade somebody's privacy without solid evidence that might incriminate an individual or individuals, and might make it necessary based on the ethical exceptions of spying previously mentioned.