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In a world where information about our lives is being monitored, collected, used and
shared on the Internet and where third parties, like the government, have access to this
information, can we still speak of a distinction between the private and public sphere?
Mahajan is an important critic of the private/public distinction. Mahajan argues that in
contemporary democracies, the private and public sphere cannot be seen as two
separate and opposite spheres. She states the following; 3



































 






 
 



 




 






 


 







When looking at current developments, the government seems to agree with this
statement. The government has systematically put up laws and regulations in order to
collect (private) data from citizens for all kinds of purposes. Collecting, analyzing and
combining data leads to an individual profile for every citizen. Based on this profile,
government decisions are made. Furthermore the AIVD has access to the data of each
citizen, for the sake of national security. An example of this development is the
electronic child file that collects and contains information of every child aged 0-19 years
that has been in contact with the youth healthcare. This file contains data on the health
and development of a child but also his or her family situation and circumstances. This
makes possible a digital compilation of profiles in order to detect problems with
children at an early stage.

The increasing proliferation of laws and regulations leads to an increasing number of

measures that interfere in the (private) lives of citizens in order to protect and monitor
it. On the other hand, citizens are trying to defend their right to privacy and co nsider
their individual lives as a private sphere in which the government, or the public, must
not interfere. Casacuberta calls this the clash between interests of the private and the
public sector. In this process the distinction between the private and public sphere is
kept alive. Majahan also recognizes that these two spheres are continued to be
presented in opposition to one another. Since the modern liberals evoked the idea of the
private, citizens will continue to shelter their private sphere from control by the state, in
order to protect their individual liberty and space for self-determination.

Biiog 

Mahajan, Gurpreet. Dz 



 .dz Critical Review of
International Social and Political Philosophy 12.2 (200 9): 133-143.

Casacuberta, David, Max Senges, and Josep-Maria Duart. Dz





 



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