(Non)Transparent Society: Choice Between Privacy and Freedom

Abstract

The article is devoted to delineating the "transhorizon" of elimination of opposition  between transparent and opaque society in the digital age based on the analysis of the problem of choosing between privacy and freedom on the Internet. Interpretations of the concept of transparency in European intellectual history from Jeremy Bentham to Walter Benjamin are considered. Modern concepts of a transparent society are characterized (Gianni Vattimo, David Brin, Byung-Chul Han, Isaac Nahon-Serfati, etc.). The conflict between "white" and "black" understanding of social transparency, manifested in the opposition of freedom and privacy, accessible and confidential, public and private in the Internet space, in the watershed between cybercrime and cyber security, is studied. The front and back sides of the network "openness" of the inhabitants of the Internet galaxy to each other have been analyzed. It has been proven that radical sensitive content should not be in public access and necessarily raises questions of media ecology, media hygiene and media law. The pessimistic "gesture of cancellation" of the very idea of information openness is outlined, concentrated in the questions: "how to disappear?", "how to become invisible?". It is shown why the presence of secrets, the right to privacy and the preservation of confidentiality are necessary conditions for the life of society, guarantees of its safety. The key topics of discussions regarding the openness and availability of information on the Internet are revealed. It is shown that being transparent in a democratic society is dignified and honorable, in a totalitarian society it is risky and dangerous. Contemporary society is defined as "supposedly transparent" (als-ob-transparent), i. e. "semi-transparent", "quasi-transparent", "as if transparent", which implies its elasticity, flexibility, plasticity, ability to be fluid and arbitrarily change the degree of information permeability ad hoc, depending on the specifics of the communication situation.