Today in American Studies, we had a discussion on privacy. Should privacy be a right? How much privacy should everyone be allowed to have? I was wondering about these questions, and even came up with my own: Should there be a school directory, or is that an invasion of privacy?
I believe that privacy should definitely be a right. However, there are appropriate times when you must "give up" your privacy. For example, if you're registering your kid at a certain school, you must give the school your name, phone number, home address, email address, etc. But you should only have to "give up" your privacy when necessary; it is NOT necessary to share any of your personal information with a telemarketer, on-line website, etc. (unless you want to...). And, of course, there are certain things that you should never have to tell anyone, like your social security number (unless you're applying for a job). Basically, I believe that each person should have the right to disclose however much about him/herself as he/she desires, but at the same time, there are certain times when one must disclose some of his/her personal information in order to accomplish something (like school registration).
I think that having a school directory IS an invasion of privacy. I believe that, if you want the school to put your address and phone number in a book that everyone will see, you should have the right to; but if you don't, then it shouldn't be a requirement. There will always be people who abuse directories and take other people's addresses and phone numbers and use them in the wrong way (like prank calling). And besides, there are some people who just don't feel comfortable knowing that 4000 other students can look up their address and phone number. I think that we should respect these people and, consequently, not list their address and phone number in the directory.
What do you think?
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When I was taking the PSAT last weekend, I was struck by how much personal information they wanted. Everything from citizenship to race to parents' education. I figured those were probably just used to make sure the test was fair to people of all backgrounds, so I filled them in. However, I did not put my social security number. Why would they possible want it? If you know, I would like to hear the reason. Some colleges ask for social security number when they send information. It seems like an unnecessary risk to be throwing that kind of personal information. Nonetheless, they must ask because a certain number of people answer the question. I think it is scary that these institutions try to gather as much information as possible just in case it becomes useful in some way.
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