The Political Economy of Privacy Among Special Populations: The Power Factor

• Activity Number: 314
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods*
• Author(s): Melinda Crowley*+
• Affiliation(s): U.S. Census Bureau
• Keywords: privacy ; special populations ; ethnography

Abstract

Respondents are aware that more and more government agencies, private corporations and marketing organizations collect information about more and more aspects of their lives. Increasing pressure is placed on individuals to provide personal information and to participate in government, private, and marketing survey research initiatives. These record-keeping and data-collection efforts are understood to be new and different ways of disrupting privacy. Thus, this ethnographic research focuses on the nature of social opinion with regards to privacy.

It is the premise of this paper that the fear of the loss of control over personal information reflects a more fundamental social concern--the growing power of large public and private institutions in relation to the power of the individual. Individuals see themselves as having little power to thwart the constant demands, mandates and uses of personal information. In thinking about privacy, this paper explores the power relations between special populations (non-white ethnic minorities, immigrants, low-income individuals, and others underrepresented in surveys and censuses), and institutions.