From Newspaperization To Neural Surveillance: Reimagining Privacy In The Age Of Meta AI Glasses
Shresht Gupta, O.P. Jindal Global University
Introduction
People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what they do does.
-Michel Foucault
Have you ever considered why privacy is safeguarded by the law with such great emphasis? What historical events prompted legal expert like Judge Cooley to recognize a right "to be let alone"? Was it the introduction of artificial intelligence, facial recognition, or widespread surveillance? The response is much older than these technologies. The right to privacy emerged not due to thinking machines, but in reaction to individuals who would not stop looking. At the end of the nineteenth century, the most significant threat to privacy was not modern technology rather it was yellow journalism (also called tabloid journalism). This type of sensationalized reporting disguised as public interest commercialized curiosity and turned the private lives of individuals into daily entertainment for society and newspapers realized that they could profit from gossip, commodify intimacy, and capitalize on intrusion and in this context, Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis wrote their influential 1890 article, “The Right to Privacy”. Their work was not merely a theoretical exploration of law or an effort to create a new right from philosophical ideas. It stemmed from real-life experiences and social needs. Warren later admitted that his interest was fueled by his profound discomfort with the ongoing invasions of social privacy, while Brandeis noted that the initiative was undertaken at Warren's request.
