Technology's role in the social construction of American privacy, 1890-present
Abstract
The histories of American technology and American privacy norms
were connected using Stewart Brand’s six layers of civilization (Fashion/art,
Commerce, Infrastructure, Governance, Culture, and Nature) to describe
shifts in cultural authority over time. The study shows that privacy rhetoric is
most often a cultural resistance to periods of technological change, and that
over time this rhetoric has called for and received authority from different
layers of cultural authority.
The study shows how institutional forces (social pressure, then tort
law, finally constitutional law) have become increasingly politicized since the
Constitution was written, leading Americans to rely on increasingly
shallower and superficial layers of cultural negotiation to solve social
problems (relying on speed, not permanence). This trend leads the researcher
to conclude that future appeals will not likely be resolved by nature, culture
or law, but by the infrastructure layer (technology) or even higher levels of
cultural authority.
Department
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