One of the fundamental duty of the government is the protection of life and of properties. This is why most of the security apparatus is been managed by the state (i.e.government) with the few ones runned by private entities been regulated by the government. In addition, the citizens also has a part to play as government alone can't do it all. For example, individuals can help in intelligence gathering, providing relevant security tips to the appropriate authorities and bodies. Security is all encompassing and should be treated as such.
Privacy is a major treasure of every human being even as everyone loves to keep and maintain their space without intrusion. No matter how much we desired this as citizens, there are still some basics which the government and security agencies must have a knowledge of or access to even though regulated for them to provide us with the security. This access should be basic such as identifications, biometrics and so on. Anything beyond these basic access should be checked as it can lead to havoc based on compromise.
Using Nigeria as an example, the national identification number (NIN) and the bank verification number (BVN) coupled with the voter's card or international passport are the major apparatus the government use for security information collection even as the authenticity of the information is much guaranteed. Infact, by the data provided on all these platforms mentioned above, the security agencies largely have information about each citizen, family and a couple of other things. Even in advanced world, there is still respect of privacy and hence basic identification is the most important.
As good and important as security is, privacy must also be well respected. In cases where there can data breach, data compromise, unauthorised disclosures and all of this, privacy can be violated. The reason more for laws as regarding security and privacy/data breach especially for developing countries where technical knowhow and technology is still advancing. I believe it's not everything that the government should know about unless the person as violated the law and needs further investigation where more is needed to be known about the person.
There has been cases here where some security operatives overstepped their legitimate jurisdiction and did the unthinkable thing to the citizens all because of "mere suspicion", unproven allegations, unfound/unconfirmed truth and all. Infact, some even went ahead to invade the privacy of citizens without a due course especially in developing nations and nations prone to compromise. Therefore, i strongly believe that protection (security) should be by regulated access as stipulated under the law of the state government) and anything beyond this must only be for a further investigative process haven been found and proven guilty.
We need as humans to take security so important and also, respect individual privacies. Undue interference beyond the written law as permitted should be questioned and frowned at. Misuse, abuse of authority especially by security operatives should be frowned at. Thanks for reading even as comments, contributions and engagements are welcomed.
This is my entry to @Hivelearners weekly featured contents, week 212 episode 01 on "PRIVACY OR SECURITY"
