Two recent news events may show evidence of “tangible” privacy harms. One involved a U.S. family that received marketing mail from OfficeMax in an envelope reading, “Daughter Killed In A Car Crash Or Current Business,” prompting this Privacy Perspectives post to ask, “Can we safely say this was a tangible privacy harm?” The second event involved the riots in Kiev, Ukraine, and a government text message warning citizens within that location, “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass riot.” With new laws mandating potential 15-year sentences for participating in such riots, Perspectives asks “what if you were just a random person going about your day on the side of the street and received that text message? Does the dark pit of fear that developed in your stomach count as harm?”
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