Chapter 5 Information Privacy

In The Giver, information privacy does not exist for the general public. Cameras with microphones are set up in all public and private spaces, and they monitor everything that society does. All elders have a direct link into all houses, which means they can directly condemn anyone that knows information that is banned from the public. This extreme government surveillance also eliminates private intellectual property, as all intellectual property is owned by the elders. The elders know everything about their citizens from their names, where they live, their occupation, etc. Traditionally private information like where you live is also known to the public. In The Giver, there is no such thing as informational privacy, as there are no barriers in place to allow for privacy in the first place.

However, information privacy does exist for the giver, Jonas, and the elders. Only the giver and Jonas are allowed to have memories of the past. They also are the only ones that can experience emotions and understand the concept of death. The elders also have limited knowledge about the past, as the giver is the elder’s advisor. The elders also control the flow of information in society thus limiting the public on what that can know about the world.

Overall, this lack of information privacy creates a major power imbalance between the elders and the general public, with the elders being the ones holding all of the power.