Indians and privacy

[Desmond]

Someone had posted this article to reddit:
How Indian Kids Raised Without Personal Space Became Adults Who Don't Care About Privacy

There is no word in most Indian languages for privacy. That isn’t surprising, considering that unlike many western countries, Indian society is based on communities, not individuals.

We are a country of joint families — where cousins live under the same roof and grow up as siblings and having a room to yourself is a rare privilege. Privacy has never been something Indians have enjoyed, so it is not as much of a priority as it is for, let’s say, Americans, who tend to live in nuclear families.

I know its a Buzzfeed article, but it really raises a good point. Most Indians don't really understand the concept of privacy because it is still very alien to most of us. This can be observed in the way people sometimes freely give away their contact details on social media publicly or invade other's privacy.

Also from the article:

We already live in an environment where catastrophic oversights like a tenth of all Indian citizens’ Aadhaar numbers being uploaded without protection on government websites are commonplace. And yet, we’re not debating how to make sure less data is available about us, or how to ensure that corporates and governments have a responsibility to keep information about us safe and use it as minimally as possible. Instead, the debate is about whether privacy is a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court’s decision on privacy will be a historic moment for India. But even if it turns out well, it will just be the beginning of a long and tiring battle. But as the fight rages on in the courtrooms and in parliament, the bigger battle will be fought in our homes and schools, as we attempt to convince parents and principals that a 15-year-old's right to a private life is important to the future of this country.

What do you guys think? Is privacy really overrated or is it really crucial for us as individuals?

 

[patkim]

I can’t say if Indians are insensitive towards their own privacy however they appear to be insensitive to the privacy needs of others!!

-At a xerox shop when some of my personal documents were wrongly scaled, he offered me the corrected ones but refused to return the faulty ones. I had to buy them too to keep it with me and prevent being left at the shop

- When an ISO 27001 certified company offered me a job, they wanted me to register on a third party site by a well-known corporate body in India to enable background checks. When I asked about security agreements between the two, they were silent. When I asked if that third party site gets hacked and my personal data leaks to the unknown world, who takes the ownership, they were silent about it.

-A well-known brand in spectacles and lens in India has a bad practice of enabling public URLs (without customer consent) for customer queries to enable customers to track them without logging in. I had to argue with their helpdesk to get my queries (that disclosed my mail id, contact number and other details) on the public URL removed.


Just like how we litter on streets, drive from wrong side of the road, ride two wheelers on footpaths, we are insensitive to the privacy needs of others. We fundamentally don’t understand that we are invading someone else’s privacy by our actions and/or are not consciously doing anything to protect it if the need may be. This is visible from a small shops to security certified corporates alike.

 

[Stormbringer]

When kids ask for privacy, most Indian parent's typical reply is " Why do you need Privacy ? You must be doing or planning to do something wrong. That's why you are asking for Privacy." LOL.

 

[Anorion]

It is true, have been feeling this for a long time. It is just the kind of insanely personal questions that come up in casual conversations, there is absolutely no filter when it comes to people nosing their way into discussions they have no business having. For example, people ask "how old are you?", or "how much do you earn?", as if they are all answers that everyone is comfortable sharing.

So many times people will just barge in and intrude on random conversations.

And yeah, as @Stormbringer said, people here think that you only need privacy if you are doing something wrong in your life.

 

[chimera201]

It is not just about casual things. At my office where I first used to work the CA used to fill out the tax e-filing forms for everyone (over 100 employees). I was a noob at that time for tax related things(still am). After I left that job I realized I had to fill those forms myself and tried to login to that website. Obviously my account was already registered by that CA and I couldn't log in. So I asked my mates who were still working there to get a contact of the CA (they had no idea about the e-filing website account as well). I got his e-mail id and sent a mail request to give my account back. I was expecting some kind of verification to be done. But no he just instantly replied giving away the password. I was like ARE U KIDDING ME? I got my my account and secured it.

 

[Desmond]

There are many sites that still store the password in plain text, how do you secure against that?

 

[topgear]

By reading all these I'm angry and puzzled at the same time. Angry mostly because of the ignorance of the people ( the kind who don't give any importance to others rights ) and puzzled because there is no way this is going to ever change. So what do we do ? Can't think of anything.

Lack of personal space / privacy is a big problem of over populated countries be it us or our neighbor's . Over population brings all sort of morally degraded things one can think of - it's not like people of developed countries don't commit crimes they do but they got developed for a reason and we are still in same state.

We have seen so many good persons in our country including political leader, religious type, scholars, athletes etc. etc. but none of them have ever given utter importance to keep population in check. People are also guilty of same ...

Please read these :

The Muslim Overpopulation Myth That Just Won’t Die

Now, Saffron leaders ask Hindus to have 10 kids to ensure survival of religion

The Vatican Finally Admits Catholics Don't Care What It Says About Birth Control

What are these ? I always question myself. You grow your family and your population and you take others who are weaker in number by force. This is the basic line which is driving many religion. Many nowadays do it on purpose - We have now on a very advanced stage on science and technology and birth control is a very easy thing if implemented correctly but nowadays everyone has become more pious than ever ( pun intended ).

We can't make god happy by going to prayer houses - you don't need to believe in god just do good deeds and your work is what matters - sigh! only few are now left with this moral.

Anyway, Long story short to put a collar on our our data shall be used we need some strict rule like EU GDPR
Home Page of EU GDPR

 

[Desmond]

These days religion is less about following the teachings of a religion and more about whether you belong to its tribe or not. Such a mentality has been around as long as humans have been around. When are not educated enough to use logic or reason, your reptilian brain will be dominant and subsequently result in a more tribal behaviour.

But I digress.

The real problem we have with privacy is the "I have nothing to hide" mentality. But this is really underestimating the value of your personal information. Imagine if someone had a criminal background, but they have done their time and are now reformed and an upstanding member of society. If their reputation as a criminal was public knowledge even after they moved to another location, they would still face discrimination in getting a job, a house, a loan, etc. no matter where they go. Their past will always be there to haunt them.

I think population is not really a problem, the problem is the mentality of the people. People need to know what personal boundaries are and keep out of other people's business when it does not involve them.

 

[Cyberghost]

Hostels in Colleges and school don't give single sharing room even if you're will to pay for it no such thing as privacy at all

 

[Desmond]

The hostel I lived in during college had single rooms as well though. They were a bit more expensive and fewer than dorms, but it was there for people who wanted to have them. But yes, other than this there was no privacy everywhere else.

 

[Nerevarine]

Sometimes I feel, good old fashioned vigilante justice is the way to go, to teach these cancer of humanity, a lesson.
Leak their private information in retaliation. Only then, would they understand.

 

[topgear]

These days religion is less about following the teachings of a religion and more about whether you belong to its tribe or not. Such a mentality has been around as long as humans have been around. When are not educated enough to use logic or reason, your reptilian brain will be dominant and subsequently result in a more tribal behaviour.

But I digress.

The real problem we have with privacy is the "I have nothing to hide" mentality. But this is really underestimating the value of your personal information. Imagine if someone had a criminal background, but they have done their time and are now reformed and an upstanding member of society. If their reputation as a criminal was public knowledge even after they moved to another location, they would still face discrimination in getting a job, a house, a loan, etc. no matter where they go. Their past will always be there to haunt them.

I think population is not really a problem, the problem is the mentality of the people. People need to know what personal boundaries are and keep out of other people's business when it does not involve them.

This I can't disagree but we have lots of politicians with such background and people are supporting them ( at-least they win on elections ). Anyway, leaking of private information on everywhere and selling it off is a not a thing I civilized country should support and that's why we NEED some strong laws like EU GDPR.

 

[Desmond]

But the real question is do we have forward thinking politicians who also respect privacy and therefore are willing to bring up this issue in parliament?

 

[topgear]

But the real question is do we have forward thinking politicians who also respect privacy and therefore are willing to bring up this issue in parliament?

I don't think we have any.

 

[meetdilip]

Privacy issues will affect politicians and businessmen more than the common man. They are not aware of it due to technical illiteracy

 

[Flash]

We have politicians who say privacy can be protected with five feet thick walls.

 

[Desmond]

Then perhaps the only thing that will help is an official Pirate Party of India. There is one AFAIK, but they are not very active.

 

[Nerevarine]

But the real question is do we have forward thinking politicians who also respect privacy and therefore are willing to bring up this issue in parliament?

The politicians that you see in power are the average of all common people.
If common people do not care about privacy, obviously the politicians wont cater to that need.

 

[Desmond]

Makes sense. But then it becomes a chicken and egg problem. Respect for privacy must start somewhere.

 

[Cyberghost]

No privacy in public places of India every where there are hidden CCTV cameras watching my activity First they need to get rid of CCTV in railway station,roads,airports,govt offices,banks etc for complete privacy