Privacy Story 2020

By Richard (Age 13.5, Chinese International School)

I reached for the roll of black tape by the side of my desk. It was placed there since the hackers on the internet have discovered a way to access the webcams on computers. The little green light, that was on my computer which signaled that the webcam was on, was blacked out by a small strip of tape. I sighed, leaning back onto a chair, which was probably the only private part of my world growing up. My curtains were closed as usual - the hackers around the world had long since discovered how to hack into government satellites, and although the police and the UN have tried hard, not one hacker has been caught.

I didn't use Facebook anymore, after an incredibly scary episode including me, a hacker from the internet with a picture of me outside my door and a sick smile. I wasn't really missing out on much, anyway. No one used Facebook anymore, except a few "daring rebels" who simply thought using Facebook was like a game. Google had recently tried to put up a "safe" Facebook replacement called GoogleCommunicate, but considering how easily the hackers broke into Google satellites, no one really bothered to try it out. New anti-virus programs had been released with the added function to prevent key-logging (a method by which a hacker records all the keys that you press) and my parents had bought me the program to install on my Mac. It was time for school, and comparing this world to that of eight years ago, it's incredible how things have changed.

I walked out. I waited outside my house, staring at the sky. It was unnerving to know the number of satellites up in space. There were probably two satellites watching your every move. The school bus came, and along with my surrounding environment, consisting of modern grey buildings and tinted windows, the bus had changed. The whole bus was painted a shiny black, and the windows were tinted. Why? I was lucky to go to one of the higher-end schools of this little town and the school was worried about student privacy. Two of this city's most powerful men had sons or daughters in this school. The whole bus being a big piece of shiny black metal on wheels made it harder for satellites to distinguish what was the window and what was just the side of the bus. The school was not so different from before. However, the once open corridors were walled up and the sports field and basketball court each got a roof. It was scary the amount of money that people spent to keep their identities safe from some creepy stalkers.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Even as the bus trudged along the road, security cameras swiveled to face the vehicle. The corporate sign "Google" was written in bold blue letters along the side of the camera, and "for your personal safety" was inscribed underneath. I didn't believe it. At first, Google was the hero of the cyber privacy crisis and by 2015 Google even had a military force designated to stop such cyber criminals. However, Google began to realize that these military forces were not producing satisfying results, and although the military scheme was not abandoned, the soldiers were increasingly showing behavior that of a hitman or assassin. Innocent people were killed and the UN forced Google to stop the scheme. Since then, they have been working on safer, newer methods that could be like our original life, such as GoogleCommunicate, but the results haven't turned out too well. Who knows: perhaps by 2060 computers might be banished.

As I slowly doze off to the rhythmic bumps of the wheels, I do not notice a little red light on a satellite, hundred of miles away in space from me, flash. A little red dot. And I do not notice a man, plugged into a huge computer, wires spreading across his desk, connecting antennae boxes, two keyboards, and three screens. He starts to smile.

Is Privacy Overrated?

By Phillip (Age 14, Island School)

Everyone, at least at some point in their lives, has something that they want to keep private and to themselves. It can be something simple like a picture of you and your mom that all your friends will think is lame, or something big like your identity card number or passport number. We try to keep things private and in many cases, those efforts prove to be futile. Technology is evolving, and with it, so are the ways for people to invade our privacy.

Every teen has a Facebook account. Well, every teen that has a computer or has access to one. Facebook has become a big part of our daily lives, and we use it to exchange information like homework, or where we are going for the summer holidays. We also upload photos of ourselves and friends. Many of these photos are accessible even if you are not a friend of the uploader, through your friends. Or, maybe the uploader changed their privacy settings so that everyone can see the photos. But, do we want this to happen? Facebook friends are like a chain. We will have friends who have other friends who are not mutual, and those friends will have friends who are not mutual friends with our friend, and so on. So in the end, our privacy is not just limited to people we know. If you do not protect your information carefully, you can have a 56-year old pervert standing outside your window staring at you while you just sit on your sofa watching some movies, not suspecting anything.

But privacy might seem 'overrated.' Most of us believe that privacy must be protected at all costs, as it also involves our personal safety. But there is actually much more information than we think that we would be willing to share with others, like how many cousins you have, or how many siblings you have, how old your grandparents are.

Not conforming to what everyone else is doing will make us social outcasts, but we have to learn to balance it. Although privacy may be overrated, no one would be willing to share information with strangers, which happens almost every day in our society. Uploading pictures of yourself is fine, but things have a limit. Nowadays a lot of adults also use Facebook, and they could be teachers at your school. Many teens whine about teachers making an unfair decision and let it out by writing about ugly their teacher is on Facebook. But if that teen does not have the right privacy settings, his or her teacher won't be greeted with a hearty hello the next morning.

Protecting your privacy is important, but it is not good to think about protecting your privacy all the time. If you are too caught up with protecting your privacy that you forget about living your life and feel paranoid wherever you go, then that will make your life like a horror game: a horror game where you are being chased by an endless horde of zombies who, no matter how many you defeat, will keep coming at you. It is impossible to live in a society where everything is totally private, and where there aren't at least one or two strangers who know your name.

Many teenagers have parents who have Facebook, or have access to their Facebook accounts. Teenagers start to feel unsafe and feel that their parents have invaded their 'private bubble'. But, teens do not think about how a company might have their ID number or how some old guy in another country halfway around the world may have access to their pictures. It is important to know what the priorities are and set them accordingly.

The modern society is a place where no one can be 100% safe, and since the start of mankind, every community and society has been like that. Privacy is something that should definitely be protected, but only to some extent. If we get so paranoid about protecting our privacy that we block ourselves off from the outside world, what's there to protect your privacy from?

Some Privacy, Please

By Justin (Age 13, French International School)

It is 2020. The word 'privacy' does not exist anymore. Everything that I write or do could be accessed by anyone. Nowhere is safe and secure.

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons

School just ended and I decided to hang out with my friends for awhile before going home. We were walking along the street when I got a text message from my mom asking why I was hanging out with my friends. She told me that she tracked down my location using her phone and found out that I wasn't in school. I wasn't skipping school. The teacher who was supposed to teach me wasn't there so we were allowed to leave earlier than usual. She then asked me why I was hanging out with Antonio and Joshua. I thought to myself, "How is it even possible for her to know who I was hanging out with?" All she told me was that she accessed the street camera and saw a few photos whilst I was accompanying Antonio and Joshua. She asked me to come home right away but I didn't. She called me again and yelled at me, asking me to come home straight away. She was stalking me the whole time. I decided to obey what she said and went back home.

On the bus, my friend Joel called me and asked me why I wasn't with Antonio and Joshua. He wasn't stalking me but he saw a notification of my texts with my mom. It started to drive me mad. He asked me if he could play on the PS6 with me that night. Right before I replied, I heard my mom saying "No!" for me. Mom was listening to my conversation with Joel the whole time! I thought to myself, "How can I get rid of these people stalking me?" So, I decided to go to the harbour front and threw away all the electronic devices into the ocean. I thought no one could stalk me anymore, but I was wrong.

The moment I got home, my mom asked me why I threw away all my devices into the ocean. She saw some photos of me on Photobucket. Some random person probably took a picture when I threw away my items. I thought to myself, "Where am I going to be safe when there are random stalkers on the street too?" I was extremely confused. It came to my head that if I disguised myself, nobody would recognize me.

I went down to the mall without my mom noticing and when I got home, my mom asked me why I went to the mall without her permission. Do I have any privacy at all? Plus, how was it possible? My mom said that she got samples of my fingerprint and found my exact location after I had left.

I got home, went into my room and stayed there since it was the only place with privacy and the only place where nobody could stalk me. My computer buzzed. I got a message from my friend asking me why I was looking so sad in my room. It was weird, since I hadn't even turned on my web cam. He told me that my web cam was on all the time since last week and everybody was able to see me live for the whole week.

I asked myself again, "Where can I get some privacy?"

Emotion vs. Rationality

By Erica (Age 14, St. Paul's College)

Intent is the first thing lawyers look for when they take up a case, especially those involving murder or manslaughter. Intent provides the motive and reason behind the crime, and maybe even the method of killing. Sometimes, it also provides an excuse for the defense lawyer or the suspect.

In a recent case in the US, a college student named Ravi lent his room to his roommate, Tyler, for the night, turned on the web cam and recorded an intimate moment between Tyler and his gay partner. Ravi then later posted the video on the Internet and even broad-casted it live on the Internet. Deeply troubled by this exploitation, Tyler ended his life by jumping off a bridge. This has sparked controversy since Ravi had indirectly caused Tyler's death, making him liable for manslaughter and therefore, invasion of privacy will be too small a charge. Since intent is one of the key factors in this case, I will start off by listing some possible motives. First, Ravi may have long suspected that Tyler was homosexual and decided to record his acts in order to feed his curiosity. Second, Ravi may be homophobic and felt uncomfortable with Tyler's sexual orientation. He might have done it in order to humiliate and embarrass Tyler because of his differences or to make himself feel superior. Also, Ravi may have used this video and exposed the secret to gain popularity and to increase his social status. Most people like to gossip about others, and this may make Ravi think that the video is the ticket to become the most admired guy in school.

However, it is undeniable that this whole exploitation was planned and schemed in advance, and not acted on a moment of impulse. This is another key point in the case. The fact that Ravi committed an organized crime is far worse than committing a crime on impulse. A crime on impulse is committed based on emotions. People think less when they feel extreme emotions, but an organized crime is done after thinking with clarity. Ravi had planned this for hours, if not days, and went against his better judgment, carrying out his plan even after weighing in the consequences. He ignored human conscience and morality in order to achieve what he wanted. He invaded his roommate's privacy, indirectly causing his death. This form of privacy invasion is far worse than reading a person's diary or eavesdropping on another person's phone call. Homosexuality is still a sensitive issue and Ravi should have known about the effects and damage he would cause after he posted the video on the Internet. He should think about the impact it will have on Tyler and even his partner. Ravi's recklessness caused an innocent person to end his life. Also, Tyler's sexual orientation is something private that he keeps to himself. Ravi had no right whatsoever to expose that to the whole world through the Internet.

I believe that Ravi and Molly, his accomplice, should be charged with manslaughter. Although Molly did not participate in the recording of the intimate moment between Tyler and his partner, she would have known the plan since Ravi watched video in her room. She should have alerted the authorities and try to stop Ravi, instead of joining an immature person to humiliate Tyler. Invasion of privacy is too less of an offense to prescribe for their acts. Their actions exposed Tyler's secret to the whole world, yet they did not care about this before carrying out this plan. Invasion of privacy can only describe their actions in the dorm, but cannot describe their motive and intentions behind this plan. They had planned for a person's humiliation. If Ravi did not stream the video live on the Internet, the case would be less serious since only three people would have known about it.

In conclusion, what Ravi and Molly did was unforgivable and no excuses should be made in order to defend them. They had taken advantage of another human being to gain popularity, for fun, and to embarrass the victim. This case was not a crime of passion, committed when feeling extreme emotions such as rage or sadness. The guilty party had premeditated about the actions, yet continued to carry them out while being aware of the damage and impact. Ravi and Molly had ruined the life of Tyler, and manslaughter should be the right term for their actions instead of invasion of privacy.