Human Rights Commissioner Sounds the Alarm on Online Privacy

By John Ogilvie

Lorraine Finlay, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, just released an excellent opinion piece that raises some important questions about privacy and digital freedom.

Scholars like Jonathan Haidt have produced a large body of evidence (found in his book The Anxious Generation ) showing social media’s devastating impact on youth mental health, few dispute the need to shield children from these platforms.

However, we must urgently question whether this “cure” risks inflicting side effects far worse than the disease.

Under the new ban, everyone (not just those under 16) will have to verify their age to use popular social media platforms. This involves invasive methods: Algorithms assessing age via your interests, posts, login times, location, and follows; or direct uploads of government ID or selfies for facial scans. The result being massive databases brimming with biometric and personal data, mandated by the government.

Some may argue that social media companies already collect our data, and this is definitely a valid point. However, this was mostly for advertising purposes. Now we are being asked to hand over our biometric information just to be allowed in the digital public square, shifting from optional tracking to mandatory surveillance for basic participation.

This mass data collection also comes with significant dangers. Numerous high profile data breaches have taken place in recent years, and the risk will likely increase going forward as cybercriminals become more sophisticated. These vast new repositories will become irresistible honeypots for hackers.

Finlay’s most chilling insight? This sets a perilous precedent:

We risk creating a digital world where surveillance is the norm and we trade privacy for participation. That’s not the digital world that I want for my kids — or for any of us.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s important that we protect our young people, but we should pursue smarter solutions that don’t sacrifice our rights.

We encourage all of our subscribers to read Lorraine’s full opinion piece.