In the movie The Truman Show, Truman wakes up every morning believing that he lives by his own choices; however, his entire life is actually fictionalized in a giant studio, within an unseen scenario. This manufactured reality is reminiscent of Descartes’ evil spirit metaphor: The idea that the senses can be deceptive and that the experienced world may essentially be an illusion of reality (Descartes, 16). Even today, this artificial reality subsists for the subjects of the digital age. In daily experiences shaped by algorithms, individuals may be misled into thinking they are freely making choices. However, these choices are often based on predetermined guidance within algorithmic boundaries. In the postmodern context, privacy is not merely an individual right; it is also fundamental to existing as an ethical subject in the face of algorithmic manipulation, economic exploitation, and state surveillance. Algorithms are reconstructing not only data but also identity, ways of thinking, and social roles.
True privacy isn’t just about avoiding exposure. It’s about having the agency to decide—sometimes even instinctively—what parts of ourselves we offer, and to whom. That delicate balance is what autonomy is built on.. In this context, Article 12 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, and correspondenc. (United Nations). Nonetheless, digital platforms bypass user consent through algorithmic designs and normalize the collection of personal data. According to the OECD’s 2024 report, generative AI systems often process data without explicit consent and make erroneous inferences about the individual. Moreover, the process of erasing or correcting personal data has become practically inapplicable due to technical limitations (OECD, 22). Thus, privacy violation is not only a legal issue but also an existential one, as the loss of individual control over data undermines ethical autonomy radically.
Privacy violations are no longer limited to the unauthorized collection of personal information. The main concern is that personal data is sold to decision-making algorithms without notice. Shoshana Zuboff describes this system as “surveillance capitalism,” in which individuals’ digital footprints are transformed into economic benefit without their awareness, thus creating algorithmic patterns that predict behavioral futures (Zuboff, 8). In his work The Black Box Society, Frank Pasquale reveals that such systems not only produce predictions but also directly affect the life of the individual. For instance, a woman attending an event on MS disease was labeled as having MS by algorithms even though she did not have the disease; or the Facebook algorithm has reached a point where it makes predictions about individuals’ sexual orientation or IQ level through likes. These systems can affect even the most intimate areas of life, such as job applications, credit scores, and even bereavement. To exemplify, the trauma experienced by a father who sees advertisements featuring his daughter after her death demonstrates how permanent digital traces can be in human life (Pasquale, 25). Violation of privacy is no longer just loss of confidentiality. It has become a matter of survival against an invisible, automatic, and even punitive power shaped by data.
Digital surveillance is not just about companies commodifying user data, as states also use these algorithms as tools of governance. The Social Credit System in China is a striking example. In this system, algorithms score individuals’ behavior as “good” or “bad,” and travel bans, public exposure, or blacklisting are subsequently applied. According to Rogier Creemers, this system is a model that redefines digital citizenship through data and builds a new citizenship regime (Creemers, 3). Although the system is presented as a Confucian model of order, harmony, and collective benefit, a structure resembling Foucault’s panopticon is hidden underneath (Foucault, 195). The governance system works with metadata, not with prison walls. Individuals develop internalized self-censorship without knowing that they are being monitored. This is no longer a discipline, but a regime of digital obedience, forced submission to algorithmic norms.
More than a discipline, it is a regime of digital obedience, forced submission to algorithmic norms. In the incident called “The Biggest Breach of All Time” that took place in 2024, more than 26 billion user data were leaked from big platforms such as Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and Facebook. This information includes email, password, login information, and location data (Winder). This massive amount of data circulating on the dark web has caused serious problems like identity theft, fraud, and psychological manipulation. A leak of this size threatens both individual and social security. Those who suffer most from the violation of their right to privacy are children who are not adequately protected by digital systems (UNICEF). Tik Tok and similar digital platforms have illegally processed children’s data and received multi-million dollar fines (Reuters). These are not exceptions, but examples that reflect the structural weaknesses of the digital system. International studies in recent years reveal that the feeling of being constantly watched is becoming more widespread globally (Pew Research Center; Eurobarometer). The collapse of privacy is no longer an individual but an ethical and psychological breaking point.
In a world where surveillance is widespread and algorithmic governance is increasing, privacy is not just a right; it is the existential basis of being human and the last bastion of the ethical subject. This concept protects not only the individuals’ secrets but also their right to think, question, and oppose. Nevertheless, with the loss of privacy, the individual becomes merely data, whereas life becomes merely a phenomenon to be analyzed. Just as doubt was the basis of subjectivity for Descartes, being able to doubt is the key to ethical resistance today. Unless privacy is defended and a critical consciousness is developed against algorithmic determinism, individuals may find themselves in a digital reality reconstructed by Descartes’ evil spirit. In this regard, we are at a crossroads in today’s digital age: Either an ethical digital consciousness is constructed and human will is exalted, or a borderless algorithmic totalitarianism is silently submitted to. Truman’s false sky had already cracked. It is now the responsibility of the ethical subject to awaken to reality.
References
Creemers, Rogier. “China’s Social Credit System: An Evolving Practice of Control.” Iberchina, 2018, www.iberchina.org/files/2018/social_credit_china.pdf.
Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies. Translated by Michael Moriarty, Oxford University Press, 2008.
European Commission. Eurobarometer: Europeans Show Support for Digital Principles. Special Eurobarometer 518, Dec. 2021, Brussels, European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_6462. Accessed 10 June 2025.
OECD. Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance and Privacy: Synergies and Areas for International Cooperation. OECD AI Papers, No. 22, June 2024.
Pasquale, Frank. The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information. Harvard University Press, 2015.
Pew Research Center. How Americans View Data Privacy. 18 Oct. 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/10/18/how-americans-view-data-privacy. Accessed 10 June 2025.
Reuters. “TikTok Fined 345 Million Euros over Handling of Children’s Data in Europe.” Reuters, 15 Sept. 2023, https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-fined-345-million-euros-over-handling-childrens-data-europe-2023-09-15/. Accessed 10 June 2025.
The Truman Show. Director: Peter Weir. Scriptwriter: Andrew Niccol. Lead Roles: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney. Paramount Pictures, 1998. Film.
UNICEF. Children and Online Privacy: A Brief Review of Key Principles, Risks and Opportunities. UNICEF, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/childrightsandbusiness/media/226/file/Brief-Children-and-Online-Privacy.pdf. Accessed 10 June 2025.
United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 10 Dec. 1948, www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights. Accessed 2 July 2025.
Winder, Davey. “Massive 26 Billion Record Leak: Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter/X All Named.” Forbes, 23 Jan. 2024, www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2024/01/23/massive-26-billion-record-leak-dropbox-linkedin-twitterx-all-named/. Accessed 10 June 2025.
Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs, 2019.
