Garret Keizer’s 2012 book “Privacy” faces the reality of the importance of privacy. He has written eight books as a freelance writer and is a former Guggenheim Fellow. Focusing on America’s justice system, Keizer is able to look at what privacy means to the general population and what violates and influences it. The book is filled with examples and research of court cases and interviews with people who have faced issues regarding their privacy. Keizer begins by describing privacy as “a creaturely resistance to be used against one’s will” (20). He believes it doesn’t matter how one is being used nor if the one being exploited is aware of being used or not, although it hurts more if they are. In this book, to be used is to be cheated out of one’s ability to serve, for example, slaves who were owned and stripped of their privacy.
To put it simply, there is public and private, but unfortunately, the general public has a hard time seeing the difference. Keizer tries to separate the different spheres by saying, “who steals my purse steals trash, but who steals the confidence with which I take my purse to market trashes my world” (9). Readers are forced to contrast the public with privacy, safety, and comfort. Public space is all around us but Keizer wants us to remember that privacy is necessary to feeling safe and comfortable, especially in our post-9/11 world.
The idea of public and private spreads to many different parts of our society, including sexuality. Oliver Sipple was the man who saved President Ford’s life in 1975 by pushing the woman who attempted to shoot him, causing her to miss. Although a “national hero,” the sexuality of Oliver Sipple was something that should have been private, not public knowledge. The newspapers revealed to the world that Sipple was gay, so he sued since he did not agree that it was public knowledge. The court ruled against him with the reason that his right to privacy did not include “the control of one’s public image” (25).
In addition to privacy concerns regarding sex, there are many that specifically regard women. The concern for the rights of women and her obligation to expose her body for public appraisal seem to be a continuous issue. To exemplify the issue with this, Keizer quotes, “those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear,” but patriarch makes sure women have something of both (38). A rather disturbing example of violation of women’s privacy is strip searching female suspects in the Chicago Police Department from 1952 to 1984. Some of these women were accused of nothing more than traffic violations, yet they were asked to lift their shirt and bra and to squat several times for visual inspection. Keizer asks a great question: If patriarchy corrupts a value like privacy almost beyond redemption, then of what salvageable value is the discursive language of feminism itself (98)?
The last issue with privacy that Keizer discusses is technology. The camera which originally required the subject’s consent since the process was time consuming, is now fast and easy, requiring little to no consent. The majority of court cases involving photos come from unwanted images in news stories or advertisements. Next, the telegram, where messages could be read by third parties or be stored, makes the users “sacrifice privacy for speed” (124). Later, the computer allows easy access to the internet and purchasing power at the touch of a button which provides a new form of convenience. Keizer finds irony in the privacy of digital technology in two ways: inventions that threaten our privacy were created in private, enhancing that of those who profited from them, and the inventions that become threats to our privacy were in fact pitches to our desire for privacy (126).
In order to research and understand the scope of what is happening in these examples, Keizer takes a look at various court cases in America’s justice system. It is essential to look at where one’s right to privacy actually appears as a relevant topic within our country. Although the idea exists in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, Keizer still argues that “privacy is the missing work in the Pledge of Allegiance. Privacy is the chivalry of the citizen. Privacy is the modesty of the state” (66). It is important to understand that privacy doesn’t appear in the US Constitution or court cases for over a hundred years after the Declaration of Independence, and is not articulated in the Supreme Court until well into the twentieth century (64).
Throughout these main points, there is strength in the argument of privacy being forced to take on a new meaning because of society, media, and technology. How does one explain why women’s private parts were violated? This certainly has influenced the idea of what is to be kept in private and what is okay to keep public. The idea of privacy also changes through online use. Trolling and cyberbullying occurs because anyone can hide their name and face behind a screen. From the privacy of their own home people can reach an audience of many, communicating in practically any way they choose including sharing private information of others. Keizer speaks to a wide audience in his book and is able to attract the attention of readers making them more aware of the world around them.
Although opening society’s eyes to these issues is the first step, where are we supposed to go next? My main criticism of this book would be that there aren’t many answers to these issues in our society. When Keizer hands us the question, “was privacy seized from our hands, like candy from a baby, or were we handing privacy, like candy to a baby, until we choked on it?” we are pushed to decide what happened (129). Perhaps he didn’t want to provide answers, but instead force the readers to answer whether it was the machines and government that affected privacy, or whether we did this to ourselves.
The last conclusion drawn from this book is if nothing is sacred any more then it must be true that “nothing trumps convenience,” or if privacy is sacred enough then we should withstand the inconveniences necessary to preserving it. If you are concerned about where your privacy has been and interested in questioning where it is going, I would recommend reading this book. Garret Keizer takes an intriguing approach to society’s love-hate relationship with privacy.