Download This PaperTechnology Cannot Fix the Privacy Crisis
Chapter adapted from: Kröger, J. L. (2022). Rogue Apps, Hidden Web Tracking and Ubiquitous Sensors. Doctoral dissertation, Technische Universität Berlin, pp. 216–219. https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-16043
7 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2023 Last revised: 31 May 2023
Date Written: June 1, 2022
Abstract
Recent decades have produced a wide variety of technical tools for privacy protection. However, the hopes placed in these tools are often inflated. Overestimating the protective effect of privacy-enhancing technologies can be dangerous and may lead to a false sense of security. This chapter stresses that the following aspects need to be born in mind when assessing the real impact of technical privacy safeguards: (1) Data controllers’ reluctance to apply self-limiting privacy safeguards, (2) the loophole created by the notice-and-choice approach to privacy protection, (3) technical challenges and limitations, (4) the limited scope of protection that privacy-enhancing technologies can offer. Also, many problems associated with the processing of personal data are not primarily of technical nature but involve fundamental social, ethical, and political questions. There is no doubt that technical tools play a crucial part in protecting people’s privacy today. They are necessary but not sufficient. To meaningfully protect people against the dangers resulting from modern data processing, strong regulation is needed as well.
Keywords: privacy, data protection, sensors, inference attack, PET, privacy-enhancing technologies
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