A Post-Qualitative Foray into Theorizing Privacy Through Entanglement

HCI researchers are pushing for theory to better address the privacy challenges that arise through digital technology and for methods to better apply existing privacy theory. In this paper I go further, asking what constitutes privacy when human life and digital technologies do not just interact, but fundamentally entangle? I offer no definitive answers but engage with post-qualitative inquiry to begin outlining possibilities. First, I trace a shift in privacy theory from a concept based in liberal ideals to one informed by postmodern perspectives. I then explore how considering privacy in non-human contexts could help theorize privacy through entanglement. I close by inviting others to join this work of engaging agential realism and Indigenous knowledge to develop an entanglement-based approach to privacy.