Privacy From a Motorcyclist's Perspective

Privacy, for me, has not so much been a need to be left alone, but a need to maintain control of who I am. I don't mind society judging me as long as I can still be respected and have the freedom do as I please.

If anything, as a motorcycle rider, I find my privacy on the road.  At 80 MPH, I can still be in full view of everyone without anyone being able to see me.

The thing is that no one ever actually wants privacy. Privacy in and of itself, is a means to a solution. It's a tool we use towards achieving some other goal.

If you want to maintain a certain persona, you emphasize desired characteristics and hide the others. If you want to get a well-paying job, you delete all the negative posts from your blog and Facebook. If you don't want the government to track you, you get a prepaid phone.

But if you don't have any such goals, then privacy isn't important to you.

Otherwise, it's a burden to hide stuff, maintain facades, and suppress behaviors.

Myself personally, I've detailed my life on this blog and others. I maintain a Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  I've uploaded so many photos and made them public.  If the government wanted me in Gitmo, they would've done it by now.

But the other thing is that I don't really give a fuck anymore.  I've put all my eggs into being self-employed.  I don't even care about my credit rating, though Sash and I have fought over this.  And now that we've announced going back on the road indefinitely, I look at what possessions I have left and wonder why I still have them.

It's like me bearing my chest to the world and shouting, "Yeah, this is me, what are you going to do about it!"

So what if each of us wore Google Glasses and could see the full details of anyone we looked at? We could see their history, their current status, their illnesses and physical features. We could see their financial worth, all their photos, and know of their fetishes.

If full transparency took all value away from lying, would that be a bad thing? If we didn't have to maintain facades, could we trust each other more? If we had no ability to create illusions, would we be forced to accept accountability?

Would you still have to run and hide if there was no retribution for your actions and beliefs?