Visible Man

Peter Singer opens his essay describing the "Panopticon" of 1787, a building philosopher Jeremy Bentham suggested that consisted of multiple rooms, or cells, that could be looked into at any given time unbeknownst to the people within.  Essentially, the Panopticon could potentially invade any and all privacy in places it would be applied including the following: factories, hospitals, prisons, and schools.

Singer continues to explain how the theory of the panopticon exists in our present-day technologies of cameras, internet, and other media.  Not only do these modern technological advancements exploit privacy, but also people themselves.  With social networks such as facebook, twitter, and tumblr, members voluntarily reveal their thoughts, feelings, and locations to the whole entire world.

The exploitation of privacy, says Singer, does not stop there.  In addition to private information that society puts into the public themselves, United States government organizations exist purely to spy on American citizens both at home and abroad, without consent of individuals.  Singer states, "Every day, the National Security Agency intercepts 1.7 billion emails, phone calls, instant messages, bulletin-board postings, and other communications."  Basically, in modern day, true privacy is slim to none.

Furthermore, Singer describes the use of organizations such as WikiLeaks and how they also exploit privacy as they release classified documents and basically keep an eye on the government and major corporations.  Although there have been multiple efforts to close down WikiLeaks, it is impossible as information posted to the internet spreads like wildfire and are then posted to hundreds of other sites.

At this point in his essay, Peter Singer asks the crucial question:  Has the newly possible openness of society made us better off?  Although some believe privacy as an inalienable right, it is becoming less and less possible to keep your life completely private.  Singer continues to analyze this issue while asking, "Will this technology be a form of tyranny or will it free us from tyranny?  Will it upend democracy or strengthen it?"

The extent of privacy society desires changes from situation to situation and is constantly evolving.  In American culture, privacy serves as a status symbol as each member of a family typically has their own bedroom and often own bathroom.  In other cultures, however, this is not the case and families often live all together as well as along side other families in their community.

With social media websites such as facebook, people display their opinion on the benefits and importance of "connecting with others, sharing information, networking, self-promoting, flirting, and bragging" that seem to outweigh everyday privacy once desired.

Peter Singer continues to delve into specific situations in government and society where privacy has been exploited and invaded, some having positive and some having negative effects.  Essentially, the continuous technological growth that society experiences will correlatively lower the level of privacy the average person and society has.  This development could produce both positive and negative effects on the world.