Privacy is not something that should ever be taken lightly. We all value our privacy and we enjoy it, especially when people leave well enough alone. I'm the kind of person who enjoys my alone time, and I'm saying this because I enjoy being alone most of the time. So, being with people when I don't want to be with them can be a bit uncomfortable for me. It caused me to adopt a closed-door system.
But then, this isn't all there is to privacy. It's not just about choosing to live behind closed doors. It's way deeper than that. Secrets also play a key role in this, because there are some secrets that even if you know of them, they are just not yours to divulge. There is also the annoying act of snooping through people's things, like their phones and their rooms... It doesn't matter if they're your friends or loved ones. It gets to a point when it becomes too much and borders on the breaching of privacy.
How do we know when we should push? Where do we draw the line? I think the answer to this is unique to everyone. Many times, breaching of privacy has to do with trust issues. Because why would you be going through my things if you trust me? All you have to do is just ask me. But since you don't feel I'll tell you the right answer, you'll go after them yourself.
Like I said, it's different for everyone involved. It's different from how a parent would breach for a child, or how a lover would breach for their partner. Or even how they would do it for a friend. There are situations in which you will feel forced to pry into their private lives.
Sometimes, it could be for their own good. If you feel your child is having unsafe relationships online, you can go through their phones and nip the act in the bud before it escalates into something worse. In the same way, if you're scared that your lover or friend is battling with a drug addiction and they really want to stop but they keep losing that battle, you can choose to search their room for hidden stashes of drugs. In these cases, we can say that we're doing it for their good.
But then, there are times when it's just not cool. Going through your child's phone simply because you want to control everything they do and everyone they meet, that's not cool. It'll only backfire because your kid will learn to keep things from you. You can rest assured that kids have a really creative mind when it comes to hiding things from their parents. Also, searching your friend's room for the purpose of wanting to know everything that they're up to is totally uncool. This is a total breach of privacy because it's not for the person in question, but to satisfy your own selfish cravings.
I've heard of people cloning their partner's messaging apps, or learning their passwords just so that they can see who they're chatting with at all times. You have to be pretty paranoid to be interested in every single chat your significant other has. It's crazy. Well, as they say, if you keep snooping around people's phones and stuff, that thing that you're looking for, you're definitely going to find it!
So, what's my take on this? I've already said it. I feel that we can do better. When it comes to those we love being in danger and protecting them, we can push the boundaries of privacy a little bit. Anything else is just bad. But then, the real question is how do we know for sure that they're really in trouble? How do we know that we are not just assuming they're in trouble just to give us an opportunity to snoop around?
Well, that's a question for everyone to answer. Personally, I'm not such a person. If something is not my business, I don't bother myself about it. I'm not even done answering the ones that do concern me, so I prefer not to pile on the load. That has always worked for me, and so shall it remain.
