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Vol.8 A
Word on Privacy. |
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There are over 1,000
households in the residential
estate where I live. Due to the
recent aging of the residents
and the frequent occurrence of
crimes, the residents'
association formed a project
team for security and safety
protection, of which I became a
member. However, a conflict
between community safety
protection policies and
personal privacy rights made
our task extremely difficult.
Information is needed
in order to establish an
organized crime-prevention
system. Phone number lists are
also necessary to keep watch
over elderly residents living
alone. We then, however,
encounter problems with people
who "don't want to have their
names on the list" or "don't
want their phone numbers to be
known." Theft can be reduced by
trimming the hedges and thus
increasing visibility from the
street, but people say that
they "don't want to be seen by
others." If the hedges are cut
too short, on the other hand,
they would lose their function
as a means of fire spread
prevention.
Even in
present day Japan, there are
villages in the mountains or
remote islands where no crimes
occur throughout the year.
Characteristics of these
communities are: family matters
are known to one another; they
have a sense of solidarity that
they are all in the same boat;
and they have a structure that
does not create criminals in
their own communities. Another
reason behind this is that
criminals appear to avoid these
communities, because outsiders
tend to stand out. On the other
hand, they have virtually no
privacy, and in some cases
strict rules such as social
ostracism are laid down.
The above examples are
extreme cases, but this is
where the bottom line is when
considering whether to
prioritize one's privacy or a
safe society. I think that one
has to sacrifice privacy to a
certain extent in order to
guarantee a safe living
environment. It would cost them
a lot of money renovating
buildings and installing
security alarms in order to
maintain safety and security by
themselves, whereas there would
be no financial cost for
keeping an eye out on each
other.
Separately, I
feel that people's awareness of
privacy issues has come so far
that it even causes
inconvenience in everyday life.
I have seen delivery personnel
and people visiting friends at
a loss because there are no
nameplates on the doors of the
houses they came for, no
telephone numbers in the
phonebook, and even the
neighbors do not know their
names.
So, which would
you put first - safety or
privacy? You cannot have your
cake and eat it.
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