if we're going to `philosophy` this, we're going to need to define a few terms in there. at least: - technology - dignity but maybe also: - we - respect

Probably it means a human holds a private key

"Dignity" is a hand wavy term often used to refer to any subjective "good" qualities the user of the word had in mind. Let's be more specific and substitute it for the more specific "freedom". Then we have a whole body of knowledge and experience to draw from: Free Software