Privacy. I know it's a pretty simple term but it is a term that not many people are constantly aware of. What does it mean to be private? Personal space is privacy. The bathroom is private. It's your own space that you feel comfortable with. That is the generic definition of the term, yes, but it holds more weight than just a space of comfort.

In a modern era where everything is plagued and overwhelmed by digital media, it is almost impossible to have privacy. In earlier times, privacy was binary-it was something you either had or didn't. Today, that binary is full of grays and nothing is certain anymore.

Helen Nissenbaum, a scholar on privacy, argues that social media and other forms of technology have erased the private-public dichotomy, and I agree with this statement deeply. Contemporary thinking of privacy always acknowledges a conflict with interests. Privacy is difficult to talk about because it is dynamic, always changing.

So what? Why does privacy matter?

Post Snowden, the privacy of all Americans were brought into the spotlight. How can we as Americans guard our privacy while maintaining the integrity of our safety as well? Listen, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm not anti-government, an anarchist per say.

I believe this country runs for the well-being of its citizen and although it might not be the perfect beckon on the hill you imagine it to be, it's a wonderful place.

However, the truth is clear. The government imposes our private lives via web. What we share, what we access, they know, either you like it or not. Many extreme pro-government believers share that an individual shouldn't feel imposed on if it has nothing to hide- a statement that I completely disagree on.

First, we need to make a clear distinction between secrecy and privacy. Secrecy is blocking information intentionally to prevent others from learning, possessing, or revealing it.

Privacy, on the other hand, is more concerned on who will obtain the said information. The information we share can be embarrassing, harmless, and non-violent.

That is the secrecy part that many people mistake for privacy. Privacy deals with more who will gain access to that information: whom we grant that access to. Private information should be only accessed through the consent of whom the facts belong to, no one else.

The question we bring when we discuss privacy is beyond just maintaining our secrets. The government does have the duty to protect our freedom and our security from the threats that shadow over us, eg. terrorism. But for the cost of intruding on the lives of Americans? How is that justified?

Think about this on a smaller scale. For a rapport to build between two individuals, each individual must trust each other. Let's discuss a detailed allegory. Let's think of our relationship with our country like a relationship between a couple.

Is it "justified" for the boyfriend/girlfriend to hack into his/her partner's phone and other private information in order to "protect" from the predators that exist somewhere? It is somewhat ridiculous to compare such a grandiose relationship like citizenship to romance, but it is the image that democracy was built upon, the image of intervention and duty.

For the democratic system to preserve, the government must display a sense of trust with its citizens that it lost for some time now. We must not grow to detest the government in return, that many of us seem to do on daily basis. Let's not go overboard with the conspiracy by placing tape on the webcam.

I understand that you're paranoid, but if the government wanted to put a surveillance it would use your phone, not your laptop.