Technology, privacy and the democratic process

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Abstract
This essay reviews accelerating trends in the development and distribution of information. It argues that the promises of the information age and the “television of abundance” brings not the emancipation of diversity, but the rapid disintegration of an already weakened right to privacy that threatens the very foundations of participatory democracy. After reviewing emerging technologies for the delivery of information and entertainment, this article examines the dramatically improved technology for combining information from a variety of diverse sources to construct models of audience segments which are then used for the delivery of specialized propaganda. Contemporary privacy law, as well as regulations agreed to as part of cable franchise agreements, are seen to be inadequate because of their limited scope. While the increase in public concern with privacy is portrayed as positive, the tendency of privacy protections to focus on “individually identifiable information” is seen as ignoring trends in the commercial and political sectors.