I’m working on a writing discussion question and need an explanation and answer

First discussion topic

• Privacy

What do you think are the biggest issues facing most people? Have the boundaries shifted too far? Are the benefits of personalized technology worth the loss of privacy? What rights should individuals have over their data? Give examples, be specific…  We’ve discussed a lot of examples this unit. Usual rules, keep it civil & all that.

Second discussion topic

• Privacy & The Government

How do these questions change when we’re talking about government actions? Private companies have influence; governments have the power to coerce. How do we balance appropriate government activity with the need to protect individual privacy? How are new technologies applying here–for example, some governments are using cell-phone data to verify that people are complying with quarantine or social-distance orders.  How do we hold governments to account?

It is the nature of governments to try to increase their own power–there are many examples of surveillance authority, once granted, being expanded into other uses, sometimes legitimate, sometimes not. Is it OK if private companies provide access to data that governments can’t legally collect? Many Americans are inherently suspicious of government data collection, but relatively unconcerned about companies such as Facebook and Google collecting much more detailed information.  Is there an actual difference between these cases, or is it a distinction with no real difference?