The digital era, in which the use of modern technologies has become embedded in human lives, creates significant pressures for the protection of privacy. Technology-mediated societies of the 21st century are dependent upon the use of modern technologies in private, work and public spheres (Gilliom a Monahan 2013). These technologies, including internet, smartphones, computers, or CCTV cameras all have surveillance capabilities and they collect our personal data, which are then used for various purposes by a variety of actors for the purposes of control, marketing, crime fighting and others. All surveillance practices are often perceived as detrimental to privacy and encroaching on the personal autonomy (Taylor 2002, Watt 2017). The privacy paradigm suggests that there is a difference between the private and public sphere of life and with the technological advancement, the demarcation lines between these spheres have been blurred (Bennet and Raab 2006). On the basis of the qualitative analysis of six focus groups conducted in Bratislava in December 2018 and January 2019, this paper explores how citizens in Slovakia understand the concept of privacy and how their understandings are shaped by their experiences, knowledge, and the extent/frequency to which they use modern technologies in their lives (convenience). The article also addresses the perception of invasiveness of different surveillance practices and how are these perceptions constructed in the post-Snowden era.
References:
Bennet, Colin and Charles Raab (2006): The Governance of Privacy. Policy Instruments in Global Perspective. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Gilliom, David and Torin Monahan (2013): SuperVision. An Introduction to Surveillance Society. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Taylor, Nick (2002): ‘State Surveillance and the Right to Privacy’, Surveillance & Society, Vol. 1, No. 1, 66-85.
Watt, Eliza (2017): ‘The right to privacy and the future of mass surveillance’, The International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 21, No. 7, 773-799.
