I took part in a survey recently of thought-leaders. One of the questions was on the future of privacy. If we think it will persist and what it will look like in the year 2024. What I (roughly) wrote.

Publicity will be assumed.

This doesn’t mean people will assume that one is merely in “public.” Instead, one will have to assume that anything they do could have “publicity.”   How somebody becomes a meme will be a commonplace story. When in public, people will be aware that anything they do could get publicity. Any action isn’t just public to those present, it’s potential publicity is international and 24/7. The meaning could very well be beyond your control.

Privacy will be a privilege and even the act of being private will be known. One cannot just “be private.” Rather – they have to take conscious steps towards it and people outside of the private circle will be able to note when somebody is being private. Today, if we see somebody using SnapChat, we know the conversations they are having will self-destruct. It is a signal that privacy is being enacted. In this scenario one cannot privately be private. There is no such thing as inconspicuous privacy.