Privacy and the emergence of the “ubiquitous computing society”: The struggle over the meaning of “privacy” in the case of the Apple location tracking scandal

The article studies negotiation and struggle over the meaning of privacy in the context of the proposed emergence of an “ubiquitous computing society” which refers to a vision of a society where computer technology, in the form of cheap microchips and wireless networks, has been seamlessly integrated into everyday objects and activities. As an illustration of the re-negotiation of the concept of “privacy” that emerges with “ubiquity”, the news coverage of the 2011 Apple location tracking scandal was analyzed from a discourse analytical perspective. Employing the concept of a mediated scandal, the articulation of privacy was studied in relation to the media as the site for the cultural negotiation concerning privacy. Two competing discourses concerning privacy were identified. In the relational discourse, privacy was understood as negotiable in the changing conditions that technological development produces. In a fundamental discourse, technological development was articulated in relationship to the fundamental and universal right to privacy. The study suggests two differing understandings of how privacy would be re-negotiated in this process of change as an ubiquitous computing society emerges.

► The privacy dimensions of the Apple “location tracking scandal” were ambiguous. ► The location tracking scandal invoked popular doubt towards new technologies. ► Privacy was articulated as relational and negotiable or as fundamental and universal. ► Differing understandings of privacy imply differing routes towards ubiquitous society.