Privacy is Personal

I lived in Germany for almost 4 years and one thing I loved were rolladen. I had rolladens on most every window in every room of my apartment. When it came time to nap on a sunny afternoon or block out the world out after a long day at work, rolladen were king. 

One touch of a button - instant privacy! 

Really?

Rolladen be damned.

As a single, American, female Army officer renting an apartment owned by a single German woman (daring to) build a home on her own in a close knit traditional German town, any semblance of privacy was merely an illusion.

The same holds true with social media today.

Privacy settings, Facebook friend lists, Google alerts, locked up Twitter profiles, etc., provide a social media user today with a degree of privacy. But like rolladens, any semblance of privacy is merely an illusion.

Nothing is private on-line.

Nothing. 

I listen to, read thoughts on, and talk with people about privacy. If I ask 10 different people what they think, I will get 10 individual (and very different) takes on privacy and then I'll throw in mine.

The takes on privacy are individual (and very different) but, across conversations, consistent themes arise: 

• Privacy is safety, risk and reality. 
• Privacy is trial, error and regret.
• Privacy is connection, exposure and comfort.
• Privacy is emotional, primal and individual.

So what should you do? What should you do about privacy?

There isn't anything you should do - except what's right for you.

Privacy is personal. Only you can decide.

Note: As claustrophobic as I am, I was thankful to have the rolladens in each room on separate switches and rarely had any one rolladen completely down. Too freaky!

Photo credit iStockphoto

Comments

[Alan Hill]

The first time I experienced Rolladen I was staying overnight at a friend's house in Germany. I didn't realize he had Rolladen (he lowered them after dark). It was so dark in the room I slept until noon and didn't realize how late it was because the room was pitch black.
Those things are like having your own personal deprivation chamber.
Thanks for sharing a great memory!