Children of a lesser God? The Vividown case and privacy on the internet
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/rfdufpr.v64i2.64319Keywords:
Jurisprudence. Human rights and democracy. Information technology law, ethics and governance. Privacy vs freedom of expression. Constitutional and legal rights.Abstract
In the wake of high profile and recent events of blatant privacy violations, which also raise issues of democratic accountability as well as, at least potentially, undermining the legitimacy of current local and international governance arrangements, a rethinking of the justification of the right to privacy is proposed. In this paper, the case of the violation of the privacy of a bullied autistic youngster and the consequent prosecution of 3 Google executives will be discussed first. We will then analyse the arguments made by both academic experts and pundits who agree with Google’s claim that if the first sentence had been left unchallenged, it would have opened the floodgates to several other jurisdictions that would as a consequence have used it as a pretext to increase control on the internet, jeopardising in such a way free speech, which has been seen so far as an inalienable right which should not be censored. Finally, by going beyond the sentences and their immediate contexts, we will propose a theoretical justification of our analysis. Our main claim is that the value of the right to privacy is based on the argument that its violation would undermine citizens’ capacity to participate effectively in democratic politics.
References
AGLIETTA, M. and REBÉRIOUX, A. (2005). Corporate Governance a Drift: A Critique of Shareholder Value. Cheltenham, U.K.; Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar.
ALEXY, R. (2002). A Theory of Constitutional Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ANDRESANI, G. (2016) “The (In)Security State: Political not Existential”, paper presented at the ERCS (The Common Good: Ethics and Rights in Cybersecurity) major conference ‘Cybersecurity Ethics: The Common Good and the Digital Commons as Justification Registers in Digital Governance, Surveillance and Security’, funded by the ESRC, Hull, UK, 20-21 October.
ANDRESANI, G. (2019) “A Defence of Digital Rights and Values”, paper presented at the ‘Human Rights in a Changing Context’ conference, Durham, UK, 9-10 May.
ANDRESANI, G. and FERLIE, E. (2006) “Studying Governance within the British Public Sector and without: Theoretical and Methodological Issues”, Public Management Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 415-431.
ANDRESANI, G. and STAMILE, N. (2016) “It’s a Bad World Out There! Taking Liberty (Out)With Emergency” presented at the ERCS/International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) pre-conference workshop ‘Surveillance and Security in the Age of Algorithmic Communication’, Leicester, 26 July.
ANDRESANI, G. and STAMILE, N. (2017) “Legal Reasoning to the Barbed Wire”, paper presented at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL), King’s College, London, 12-16 June.
ANDRESANI, G. and STAMILE, N. (2018) “Transparency in Internet Regulation and Governance: Arguments and Counter-Arguments with Some Methodological Reflections”, RBEP, 117, pp. 443-476.
ANDRESANI, G. and WARD, T. (forthcoming) “Arguments and Stories in Legal Reasoning: The Case of Evidence Law”, ARSP.
BARBER, L. and PALMER, M. (2010). “Google chief prizes creativity”, June 3, 2010, https://on.ft.com/2ZSgJcx.
BEAUCHAMP, T. L. (2010). Relativism, Multiculturalism and, Universal Norms: Their Role in Business Ethics. In G. G. BRENKERT and T. L. BEAUCHAMP (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Business Ethics, (pp. 235-266). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
BERNAL, P. (2014). Internet Privacy Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
BOWIE, Norman E. and JAMAL, Karim (2006). “Privacy Rights on the Internet: Self-Regulation or Government Regulation?”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 323-342.
BRENKERT, G. G. (2009). “Google, Human Rights, and Moral Compromise”, Journal of Business Ethics, 85(4), pp. 453-478.
CALABRESI, G. (1996). Il dono dello spirito maligno. Gli ideali, le convinzioni, I modi di pensare nei loro rapporti col diritto. Milano: Giuffrè.
CAMPBELL, T. and MILLER, S. (eds) (2004). Human Rights and the Moral Responsibilities of Corporate and Public Sector Organisations. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
DALTON, Dan R., WIMBUSH, James C. and DAILY, Catherine M. (1996). “Candor, Privacy, and ‘Legal Immunity’ in Business Ethics Research: An Empirical Assessment of the Randomized Response Technique (RRT)”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 87-99.
DENIS, G., BOWIE, N., BEAUCHAMP, T. L. and ARNOLD, D. G. (eds) (2018). Ethical Theory and Business. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
DIGNAM, A. and GALANIS, M. (2008). “Corporate Governance and the Importance of Macroeconomic Context”, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 201-243.
DOH, J. P. and GUAY, T. R. (2006). “Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Policy, and NGO Activism in Europe and the United States: An Institutional-Stakeholder Perspective”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 43, No 1, pp. 47-73.
DONADIO, R. (2010). “Larger Threat Is Seen in Google Case, New York Times”, https://nyti.ms/2P2FeTp.
EDWARDS, L. (2010), “Annoyed Now: Google & Italy, Pangloss”, February 25, https://bit.ly/2OK6Dcl.
ETZIONI, A. (1999), The limits of Privacy. New York: Basic Books.
FERLIE, E., MUSSELIN, C. and ANDRESANI, G. (2012) “El pilotaje de los sistemas de educación superior: una vision desde la perspective de la gestion publica”, in KEHM, Barbara M. (ed.), La nueva gobernanza de los sistemas universitarios. Barcelona: Octaedro.
FIANDACA, G. and MUSCO, E. (2014). Diritto penale. Parte generale. Bologna: Zanichelli, 7th ed.
FLEMING, J. A. (2004). “Securing Deliberative Democracy”, Fordham Law Review, 72, pp. 1.435-1.475.
GILIOLI, A. (2010) “Piovono Rane”, https://bit.ly/2YSjhpI.
GUNTHER, K. (1993) The Sense of Appropriateness: Application Discourses in Morality and Law, New York: State University of New York Press.
HABERMAS, J. (1996). Between Facts and Norms, Polity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
HARTMAN, E. M. (2001), “Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy, and Organizational Ethics: A Response to Phillips and Margolis”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 673-685.
HEATH, J., MORIARTY, J. and NORMAN, W. (2010), “Business Ethics and (or as) Political Philosophy”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 427-452.
INTRONA, L. D., POULOUDI, Athanasia (1999). “Privacy in the Information Age: Stakeholders, Interests and Values”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 22, No. 1, Ethics of Information and Communication Technology, pp. 27-38.
JOHNSON, D. (2001). Computer Ethics. London: Prentice Hall International, 3rd ed.
KAFKA, P. (2010). Google’s European Road Trip Gets Even Worse, All Things Digital, February 24, https://bit.ly/2GTNaj4.
KAMM, F. M. (2002). Rights, in Coleman, J. and Shapiro, S. The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
KNILL, C., TOSUN, J. (2012). Public Policy: A New Introduction. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
LE MENESTREL, M., HUNTER, M. and BETTIGNIES, H.-C. de (2002), “Internet e-ethics in Confrontation with an Activists Agenda: Yahoo! on Trial”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 39, No. 1-2, pp. 135-144.
LIPINSKI, T. A. (1999) “The Commodification of Information and the Extension of Proprietary Rights into the Public Domain: Recent Legal (Case and Other) Developments in the United States”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 22, No. 1, Ethics of Information and Communication Technology, pp. 63-80.
LYON, D. (1994). The Electronic Eye. The Rise of Surveillance Society. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
MANTOVANI, F. (2013). Diritto Penale. Parte generale. Padova: CEDAM.
MATTEN, D. and MOON, J. (2004). “A Conceptual Framework for Understanding CSR in Europe”, in HABISCH, A., JONKER, J., WEGNER, M. and SCHMIDPETER, R. (eds), CSR across Europe (pp. 335-356), Berlin: Springer.
MOON, J., KANG, N. and GOND, J.-P. (2010). “Corporate Social Responsibility and Government”, in COHEN, D., GRANT, W. and WILSON, G. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Business and Government (pp. 512-543). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MOORE, A. D. (2000). “Employee Monitoring and Computer Technology: Evaluative Surveillance v. Privacy”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 697-709.
MORIARTY, J. (2005). “On the Relevance of Political Philosophy to Business Ethics”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 15, No.3, pp. 455-473.
MUCCHETTI, M. (2010). “Il pm, la privacy e Google: loro vogliono il Far West”, June 6, 2010, https://bit.ly/2yKTMMr.
NAGEL, T. (1995). “Personal Rights and Public Space”, Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 24, No.2, pp. 83-107.
NEWELL, P. (2002). “Managing Multinationals: The Governance of Investment for the Environment”, Journal of International Development, 13, pp. 907-919.
PESLAK, A. R. (2005). “An Ethical Exploration of Privacy and Radio Frequency Identification”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 59, No. 4, pp. 327-345.
RICHARDS, N. M. (2015). “Four Privacy Myths”, in SARAT, A. (ed), A World Without Privacy. What Law Can and Should Do? New York, Cambridge University Press.
ROSENBERG, R. S. (1999). “The Workplace on the Verge of the 21st Century”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 22, No. 1, Ethics of Information and Communication Technology, pp. 3-14.
SCANLON, T. M. (2004). “Adjusting Rights and Balancing Values”, Fordham Law Review, 72, pp. 1.477-1.486.
SEN, A. (1993). “Does Business Ethics Make Economic Sense?”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. No. 31, pp. 45-54.
SMITH, J. D., (2009). “Internet Content Providers and Complicity in Human Rights Abuse”, in ARNOLD, D. G., BEAUCHAMP, T. L., BOWIE, N. (eds), Ethical Theory and Business. London: Prentice Hall International, pp. 442-445.
SOLOVE, D. J. (2002). Conceptualizing Privacy, California Law Review, Vol. 90, No. 4, pp. 1.087-1.155.
SOLOVE, D. J. (2011). Nothing to Hide. The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security, New Haven- London: Yale University Press.
SPINELLO, R. A. (2010). “Informational Privacy”, in BRENKERT, G. G. and BEAUCHAMP, T. L. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Business Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 366-387.
THOMSON, J. J. (1984). “The right to privacy”, in SCHOEMAN, F. D. (ed.), Philosophical Dimension of Privacy. An anthology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
TINCANI, P. (2016). “Un altro dono dello spirito maligno. Nuova sorveglianza e comportamenti individuali”, in PELLICCIOLI, L. (a cura di), La privacy nell’età dell’informazione, L’Ornitorinco, Milano.
WARBURTON, D. (2010). “Google Moves China Operations to Hong Kong”, March 23, 2010, https://bit.ly/2GTyRv6.
WARREN, S. and BRANDEIS, L. (1890). “The Right to Privacy”, Harvard Law Review, 4, pp. 193-220.
WHITCOMB, D. (2010). “Cyber-bullying Cases Put Heat on Google, Facebook”, March 9, 2010, https://reut.rs/33mn9mc.
WHITMAN, J. Q. (2004). “The Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty”, Yale Law Journal, 113, pp. 1.151-1.221.
ZICCARDI, G. (2016). L’odio on line. Violenza verbale e ossessioni in rete. Raffaello Cortina, Milano.
ZUCCA, L. (2007). Constitutional Dilemmas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
CASE LAW
Corte di Cassazione, III sez. pen., 3 Febbraio 2014, n. 3672.
Court of Justice in Case C-131/12.
Tribunal of Milan, 12 April 2010 n. 1972.
Corte di Appello of Milan, December 21, 2012.
LEGISLATION
Art. 167 of Legislative Decree n. 196 of the 2003 Privacy Code.
SITES
Googleblog (2010). Serious Threat to the Web in Italy, February 24, 2010, https://bit.ly/31tMloS.
Repubblica (2010). Disabile picchiato e filmato, condannata Google. Gli Usa: “La libertà di internet è vitale”, https://bit.ly/2KyxGC3.
Sole24 (2010). Minacciato su Facebook per la sentenza Google, April 15, 2010, https://bit.ly/2MNd5wI.
The Guardian (2010). Google Street View “broke Australia’s privacy law”, https://bit.ly/2YzNHSm.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with the Journal agree to the following terms:
– Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work licensed under the Creative Commons — Atribuição 3.0 Brasil — CC BY 3.0 BR Licence, which allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in the Journal;
– Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in the Journal;
– Any person is free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and to adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, but must give, in any case, appropriate credit, and provide a link to the license and indicate if changes were made, under the terms of the Creative Commons — Atribuição 3.0 Brasil — CC BY 3.0 BR Licence and in compliance with Brazilian Law No. 9,610, of February 19, 1998, and other regulations in force.
