Privacy

I said I would try to work out why privacy is important, so here's a brief answer. It's overly simplistically expressed but this is a blog, not "An Essay Concerning..."

The distinctive quality of sentience is the capacity for choice; to interfere with another's choice, where that choice affects none but the individual concerned is, in general, wrong. "Privacy", being shorthand for the freedom of the individual to choose what information about themselves is known to others, is important and must be defended because what we choose to tell reflects and shapes our relationships to others and affects our vulnerability to exploitation by others.

Failure to respect another's privacy is therefore wrong insofar as it takes away this freedom to choose.

You'll find it spelled out in more detail in "IT"... eventually.

Ethical Stuff. Political Stuff.