November 11, 2021

The notions of personal space and security are topics of constant discussion within academia and among the public and private sectors. In Georgia, this topic is mainly the subject of a debate between service providers (Magti, Beeline, etc.) and government institutions. Alongside technological advancements, our personal information, communications, medical and financial data was digitized. Therefore, the ethical dilemma of personal space and security became the subject of even more heated debate. Where does the line between government control, universal security, and private space lie? When is the government authorized to access data in our devices and consequently violate our personal space? During the discussion, it is essential to keep in mind that most service providers have developed a system for information exchange, enabling law-enforcement authorities to obtain information about a specific user and/or device after completing specific procedures and meeting relevant requirements. 

To this day, there is a discussion between companies and government authorities, whether we need better cryptographic protocols, what will an inaccessible system give us, and whether we can create such a system? In the interview below from 2016, Barack Obama, the then President of the US, discusses precisely this topic and, within the framework of general discussion, reviews the issue when personal space can be restricted, with the motive of universal good and security. During this discussion, the cases of Edward Snowden and Wikileaks are often cited, when specific individuals decided to publish information containing state secrets, among others, and likely endanger not only the official position of certain persons but also the security of the country and individuals. 

See the above-mentioned interview at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjvX5zq7BXg&ab_channel=TDC