Takeaways for Week 2

•  Privacy matters for a variety of reasons, and this week we started with the idea that information is power, and privacy acts as a check on that power. Information gathered on you can be used in a variety of ways, not only within a criminal context but also through marketing, models, and predictions on your behavior.
• Alongside this point your behavior is likely to change if you are aware that you are being observed, if you really have "nothing to hide" you are likely to try to keep it that way if you are aware that you are under surveillance.
• There are privacy concerns not only in the collection of information, but also in how your information is stored, used, aggregated, who has access, and how long it will be stored for. Important questions to ask about your information include: Who is collecting it? Who has access to this information? Will it be shared? If it is stored how will it be secured? How long will it be stored for? Do I have the right to access and correct my own information?
•  The aggregation of information can be particularly effective in whittling away protections, as models can be built to accurately predict your behavior, and it is impossible to refute what you have not yet done.Alongside this, the aggregation of information that you have consented to collection can be used to glean information that may be considered intimate, such as targets use of shopping patterns to predict pregnancy.
  
• The argument that those with nothing to hide should not value their own privacy begins in a flawed manor, everyone has something to hide, they just may not realize they are hiding it. Likewise even if the behaviors or information you are attempting to hide are not criminal, you may still not want them recorded or disclosed. 
• In our reading we saw that privacy being set against societal interests is a false dichotomy, as strong privacy rights for individuals can actually lead to a strong society as a whole. While the government may attempt to justify the NSA's mass surveillance of phones within the context of national security, in reality this guts the 4th amendment and was deemed unconstitutional.
• Informed consent is important, but often not required. Because consent is often used as the justification for the use of collection and use of data, many companies will use a vague and open ended ToS in order to cover any privacy concerns that may arise in the future.
• Our reading outlined 4 types of privacy concerns, many of which align with what I covered earlier: Information collection, information processing, information dissemination, and invasion of privacy.
• Different institutions have various pros and cons for protecting privacy, legislation is slow but enforces compliance. The courts are more flexible and can make rulings based on the facts of an individual case, but by their very nature are unable to act until after the damage is done. the individual knows what it is that is most important to them, and can take actions in the moment to protect their own privacy, however often these actions are not feasible with how much we rely on technology.