APPENDIX B: RESPONDENTS’ ONE-WORD DESCRIPTIONS OF PRIVACY IN THE FUTURE
Focus Group I (Seniors)
- We will get used to drinking the poison.
- We will be more aware of it, but it isn’t going to get better.
- We are more aware of it. We’re more careful. Is it better? Probably not, but we’re more aware now.
Focus Group 2 (Middle Age)
- Scary, unknown
- Unknown but we are catching bad guys
- Uncontrolled
- Uncontrolled and concerned
- Not sure if liberal democracy will balance against authoritarian dystopia and terrible stuff
- More complex in the future; privacy means different things
- Positive about the future—we will work out the issues
- Going in a negative direction
Focus Group 3 (Young Adults)
- Will be no privacy
- Declining
- Fine
- Non-existent
- Non-existent
- Minimal
- Functional
- Regulated
Focus Group 4 (Seniors)
- Gone
- Gone
- Okay
- Unknown
- Vanishing
- Safeguards will be enlarged
- Fragile
- Precarious—”thank goodness we are of the age that it is not going to be our problem”
Focus Group 5 (Young Adults)
- Some or none
- Definition of privacy will change twenty years from now. There will be a different technological environment. We are a transitional generation. There will be ramped up technology.
- The term ‘privacy’ will lose its meaning. In twenty years we will say, “what is privacy?” It will just get lost, be meaningless. With more sophisticated technology, privacy will be meaningless.
- Even though privacy is decreasing, most of the public knows this, and therefore may become more protective [with respect to government and private corporations and privacy]. The fact that people realize they are being watched/located may lead to more policies.
- Meaningless
- Meaningless but will still want privacy
- Less privacy
- Declining
- Diminishing
- Unknown
Focus Group 6 (Middle Age)
- Scary—going down slippery slope where all know about me
- Very different
- Unimaginable
- Precarious
- Interesting
- Real—more and more we’ll accept the changes as they’re inevitable.
Table of Contents
- I. INTRODUCTION
- II. BACKGROUND
- III. RESEARCH DESIGN
- IV. FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS
- V. THE RESIGNATION CURVE - PROFILES IN PRIVACY
- VI. CONCLUSION - REFRAMING PRIVACY’S MEANING
- APPENDIX A - GENERAL SCRIPT/QUESTIONS FOR FOCUS GROUPS
- APPENDIX B - RESPONDENTS’ ONE-WORD DESCRIPTIONS OF PRIVACY IN THE FUTURE