RESHAPING THE DISCOURSE ON PRIVACY IN THE ERA OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS

Abstract: This paper is situated at the border between privacy studies and law and media studies. More precisely, the research aims to find out how the discourse on privacy is reshaped in the context of the upcoming technological changes envisaged in the scenery of the IoT. In a world where potentially all items become connected, the era of the Web 2.0 seems to fade away and leave the floor for a new era where the machines are also empowered as to create human-related content. One of the dimensions of this technological shift is the ubiquity of data and the continuous flow of information it involves. In this new landscape, individual privacy is a construct that necessitates further reflection and content analysis. Where legislation sets up for being the patron of data protection, the European legal rules are undergoing a reform process aiming to adapt the legal framework to the social realities. In light of the above, this paper starts by mapping how privacy was conceptualized by analyzing different theories set up in various media contexts. It follows by sketching the new media context of the IoT and mainly how it functions and where it applies. In order to draw a conclusion on how the new type of communications under the IoT can carve the notion of privacy, this paper will analyze the legal texts that aim to regulate the field of privacy. Legal texts are chosen as empirical material because they are the best barometer of social realities. In addition, in this particular field, the European legal background is subject to a reformation aiming to impose stricter rules that mirror the need for a stronger protection of privacy under the fast technological changes. After the analysis of the empirical material, the research applies the findings on the IoT to the legal background in order to assess whether the legal regime is strong enough to protect personal data. After carrying out this examination, the theories presented at the beginning of the paper are tested under the IoT scenery in order to assess which one is the most appropriate for the new context. The analysis reveals that surveillance theories and especially the panspectric gaze theory are the most applicable in the IoT scenery.