Будущее приватности сквозь призму теории постнормальности

Abstract


 
 
 The theory of postnormal times by Ziauddin Sardar is an attempt to explain the social processes occurring when traditional models, theories, and paradigms seem powerless in the face of looming challenges. Postnormal times are an intermediate period when old ideas, theories, and practices are dying and new ones have not yet been formed, and the whole world seems to be plunged into uncertainty and chaos. Privacy is one of the areas where the situation is considered to be already postnormal. Therefore, the article attempts to outline the current state and prospects related to privacy and personal data protection, based on the methodology developed within the theory of postnormal times.
 Complexity, chaos, and contradictions are the main forces propelling postnormal times. All of them are very perceptible in the sphere of privacy. In particular, the outcomes of the major current strategies for the legal protection of personal data are ambiguous and controversial. It relates to the consent of the data subject as one of the main legal grounds for personal data processing, as well as the use of data anonymization and pseudonymization techniques, or the introduction of mechanisms of external risk assessment. In addition, it is argued that in the present world there is a fundamental contradiction between privacy and underlying trends in business and governance, the causes of which are revealed by applying Lawrence Lessig’s theory of four regulators.
 
 
 
 Under such conditions, traditional ways of responding to challenges – turning back, increasing control and complexity of measures – not only contribute to normalization, but drive the system even further into a state of postnormalcy. It is accompanied by the exacerbation of identified critical contradictions and revealing of the new ones that increases the likelihood of collapse of the existing system of privacy protection in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and promote innovative approaches which include both reforms in the field of privacy regulation and efforts to change the external environment.