I keep encountering a strange fear of transparency and clarity. Basically, I cannot understand it.
Let us assume I have private things stored in my attic or basement. Nobody is supposed to know about these things. For instance the uniform of a club where I do not want anybody to know about my former membership. Or maybe some fetish because I am superstitious. Or the latex costume and the leather whip. Not to mention dirty things such as Dildos.
Or assume I own a pistol. A piece of beautiful mechanics, but unfortunately it is subject to the weapons legislation.
I want nobody to know I own it. Perhaps my bourgeois soul would be ashamed. Or I might be afraid of betrayal. That would probably be a good reason for my desire that nobody should ever know about this perhaps unpleasant part of my private life.
Perhaps it is only some “forbidden” books I am hiding. Or books where I would find it embarrassing if anybody knew I read this kind of stuff. Or maybe pictures with memories I do not wish to share with others. Or a very intimate collection of letters I want absolutely nobody to read.
These are all examples for my real, non-virtual privacy that does not consist of “data”.
I could hide all these things in a chest and secure them with a huge lock. The key to said lock could be hidden in a very secret place. And I could write a note saying “On my death, please destroy unopened” and attach it to the chest. And I could hope that someone will then respect my wish.
Except what use would it be? Is it at all realistic?
If I refrain from putting the self-perceived disgrace of my life into a chest with a lock or destroying it, there will come a day when someone notices it. That day will be the day of my demise. On that day, someone will have to clear away my household utensils. Then he will find all of it – and start wondering.
And then there is an end to my privacy. Well, at the time, I will not really mind, will I?
Basically, books, letters and pictures are not really objects, are they? I could digitalize them and store them in the Cloud. But that is something I will write another privacy article about.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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