Is privacy a human right? Or is it something governments can bend in the name of security?
In our latest video, we brought together two experts with radically different perspectives to debate the answers to these questions. One is Andrew Bustamante(nouvelle fenêtre), a former CIA intelligence officer who understands how surveillance works from the inside. The other is Jennifer Huddleston(nouvelle fenêtre), a Senior Fellow in Technology Policy at the libertarian Cato Institute(nouvelle fenêtre), who argues that privacy is a fundamental human right.
Why privacy matters more than ever
Every time you share data with Google, Meta, or any other Big Tech giant, you’re also making a decision about who controls that information. Should the government be able to demand it? Should companies be allowed to sell it? Should anyone else have access to it at all?
The answers carry real consequences. They affect your ability to speak freely, protect your personal life from unwanted — or unwarranted — scrutiny, and trust the digital services you use every day.
Bustamante argues that governments naturally prioritize security, sometimes at the expense of individual rights. Huddleston counters that without strong protections for privacy, democratic societies risk eroding their own foundations.
A debate with real-world consequences
This conversation is grounded in the real world. Surveillance programs, data broker markets, and new laws expanding government access to online data are already reshaping the balance between security and liberty.
The video ends with a rapid-fire exchange between Bustamante and Huddleston on how governments should — or shouldn’t — balance individual rights with national security. The contrast between them makes clear that privacy is not just a technical issue, but a question of values and power.
