Conflicts Due to Increased Digitisation

Conflicts Due to Increased Digitisation
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Conflicts Due to Increased Digitisation
One of the major phenomena that characterises the modern world is increased digitisation. Technology has permeated almost every facet of human life such that one may be tempted to argue that life without it would be unbearable. In the wake of increased digitisation, there have been massive changes in how human beings work, communicate, and interact with one another. Increased digitisation has also opened a new digital economy where corporations offer goods and services to customers through the internet. While increased digitisation has led to positive transformations of the human way of life, it has come with significant shortcomings, creating conflicts. Increased digitisation in relation to privacy, domesticity and community has come with advantages and disadvantages that create conflict in society today.
Increased digitisation has had a massive impact on privacy, creating a major conflict between individuals and governments/corporations. On the one hand, individuals seek to be left alone and limit access to their personal information; on the other, governments and corporations seek to collect personal information for different purposes. In the case of privacy, a key advantage associated with increased digitisation is the efficiency of governments and commercial organisations. As informed by Gibbs (2008), for governments to govern efficiently and effectively, they need accurate information about the members of the population. For example, census data facilitates the government's planning and delivery of services, while details about earnings and assets help collect taxes (Gibbs, 2008). Increased digitisation has made the collection of these pieces of data and information easier, facilitating the delivery of services to citizens. Commercial organisations also need personal information to provide goods and services to their customers. To a great extent, increased digitisation has enhanced the operations of governments and corporate organisations for the benefit of many individuals.
Another advantage of increased digitisation is improved national security and faster detection of infectious diseases. When it comes to national security, increased digitisation is integral to enhancing public safety and security. As informed by Bentotahewa et al. (2021), surveillance aided by advancement in technology plays an important role in incidents that threaten the state's security. Gibbs (2008) also notes that sorting large amounts of data by security agencies helps in the prevention of terrorist attacks. Therefore, increased digitisation can be advantageous because it improves the safety and security of the members of the public. Also, during cases of infectious diseases, as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is in the public interest to monitor the spread, which requires surveillance.
While increased digitisation may be advantageous in several cases, as seen above, it violates the right to privacy to a great extent. As informed by Gibbs (2008), privacy is characterised by controlling information about oneself, freedom from surveillance, and freedom from...