Privacy

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For the application of privacy within the Wikipedia community, see Wikipedia:Privacy policy.

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively. The boundaries and content of what is considered private differ among cultures and individuals, but share basic common themes. Privacy is sometimes related to anonymity, the wish to remain unnoticed or unidentified in the public realm. When something is private to a person, it usually means there is something within them that is considered inherently special or personally sensitive. The degree to which private information is exposed therefore depends on how the public will receive this information, which differs between places and over time. Privacy can be seen as an aspect of security — one in which trade-offs between the interests of one group and another can become particularly clear.

The right against unsanctioned invasion of privacy by the government, corporations or individuals is part of many countries' privacy laws, and in some cases, constitutions. Almost all countries have laws which in some way limit privacy; an example of this would be law concerning taxation, which normally require the sharing of information about personal income or earnings. In some countries individual privacy may conflict with freedom of speech laws and some laws may require public disclosure of information which would be considered private in other countries and cultures.

Privacy may be voluntarily sacrificed, normally in exchange for perceived benefits and very often with specific dangers and losses, although this is a very strategic view of human relationships. Academics who are economists, evolutionary theorists, and research psychologists describe revealing privacy as a 'voluntary sacrifice', where sweepstakes or competitions are involved. In the business world, a person may give personal details (often for advertising purposes) in order to enter a gamble of winning a prize. Information which is voluntarily shared and is later stolen or misused can lead to identity theft.

1 Types of privacy
2 History of privacy
- 2.1 Privacy and technology
3 Philosophy of privacy
4 Privacy law
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

[edit] Types of privacy

The term "privacy" means many things in different contexts. Different people, cultures, and nations have a wide variety of expectations about how much privacy a person is entitled to or what constitutes an invasion of privacy.

[edit] Physical

Physical privacy could be defined as preventing "intrusions into one's physical space or solitude"^[1] This would include such concerns as:

preventing intimate acts or one's body from being seen by others
preventing unwelcome searching of one's personal possessions
preventing unauthorized access to one's home or vehicle

An example of the legal basis for the right to physical privacy would be the US 4th amendment, which guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures",^[2]. Most countries have laws regarding trespassing and property rights also determine the right of physical privacy.

Physical privacy may be a matter of cultural sensitivity, personal dignity, or shyness. There may also be concerns about safety, if for example one has concerns about being the victim of crime or stalking.^[3]

[edit] Informational

Main article: Information privacy

Data privacy refers to the evolving relationship between technology and the legal right to, or public expectation of privacy in the collection and sharing of data about ones self. Privacy concerns exist wherever uniquely identifiable data relating to a person or persons are collected and stored, in digital form or otherwise. In some cases these concerns refer to how data is collected, stored, and associated. In other cases the issue is who is given access to information. Other issues includes whether an individual has any ownership rights to data about them, and/or the right to view, verify, and challenge that information.

Various types of personal information often come under privacy concerns. For various reasons, individuals may not wish for personal information such as their religion, sexual orientation, political affiliations, or personal activities to be revealed. This may be to avoid discrimination, personal embarrassment, or damage to one's professional reputation.

Financial privacy, in which information about a person's financial transactions is guarded, is important for the avoidance of fraud or identity theft. Information about a person's purchases can also reveal a great deal about that person's history, such as places they have visited, whom they have had contact with, products they use, their activities and habits, or medications they have used.

Internet privacy is the ability to control what information one reveals about oneself over the Internet, and to control who can access that information. These concerns include whether email can be stored or read by third parties without consent, or whether third parties can track the web sites someone has visited. Another concern is whether web sites which are visited collect, store, and possibly share personally identifiable information about users.

Medical privacy allows a person to keep their medical records from being revealed to others. This may be because they have concern that it might affect their insurance coverage or employment. Or it may be because they would not wish for others to know about medical or psychological conditions or treatment which would be embarrassing. Revealing medical data could also reveal other details about one's personal life (such as about one's sexual activity for example).

Political privacy has been a concern since voting systems emerged in ancient times. The secret ballot is the simplest and most widespread measure to ensure that political views are not known to anyone other than the voter themself--it is nearly universal in modern democracy, and considered a basic right of citizenship. In fact even where other rights of privacy do not exist, this type of privacy very often does.

[edit] Organizational

Governments agencies, corporations, and other organizations may desire to keep their activities or secrets from being revealed to other organizations or individuals. Such organizations may implement various security practices in order to prevent this. Organizations may seek legal protection for their secrets. For example, a government administration may be able to invoke executive privilege^[4] or declares certain information to be classified, or a corporation might attempt to protect trade secrets.^[5]

[edit] History of privacy

[edit] Privacy and technology

Please help improve this section by expanding it
with: information from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Philosophy of privacy

Please help improve this section by expanding it
with: information from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ("Views on the Meaning and Value of Privacy", "Critiques of Privacy").
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Privacy law

Main article: Privacy law

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in article 12, states:

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Privacy International, a British human rights group, prepares yearly rankings of privacy protection by country.^[6]

Privacy is not guaranteed per se by the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court of the United States has found that other guarantees have "penumbras" that implicitly grant a right to privacy against government intrusion, for example in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). Privacy is regulated in the U.S. by the Privacy Act of 1974, and various state laws.

The European Union requires all member states to legislate to ensure that citizens have a right to privacy, through directives such as the 1995 Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data. It is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Data Protection Act 1998 and in France data protection is also monitored by the CNIL, a governmental body which must authorize legislation concerning privacy before them being enacted. In Australia there is the Privacy Act 1988.

If the privacy of an individual is breached, the individual may bring a lawsuit asking for monetary damages. However, in the United Kingdom, it is not possible to bring an action for privacy. An action may be brought under another tort and privacy must then be considered under EC law. Some recent cases involving celebrities such as David Beckham, have resulted in defeat as the information has been determined in the courts to be in the public interest.^[7] In the United States, the right of freedom of speech granted in the First Amendment have limited the effects of lawsuits for breach of privacy.

In the United States, Federal law regulating communications carriers prohibits the disclosure of customer phone records.^[8] Breaches of this law in the private sector were found to be common, with sales of call detail information becoming the subject of Congressional inquiry. More recently, it has been revealed that the United States National Security Agency has been warehousing the call detail information of billions of individual phone calls for pattern analysis. Whether this was done in violation of law or through powers granted by Congress as part of the broader "War on Terrorism" is the subject of debate.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

Judith Wagner DeCew, 1997, In Pursuit of Privacy: Law, Ethics, and the Rise of Technology, Ithaca: Cornell University Press
Ruth Gavison, "Privacy and the Limits of the Law," in Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000, formerly Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1996), paperback, 552 pages, pp. 46-68.
Raymond Geuss, 2003, "Public Goods, Private Goods," Princeton: Princeton University Press
Judith Jarvis Thomson, "The Right to Privacy," in Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000, formerly Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1995), 552 pages, pp. 34-46.
A. Westin, 1967, Privacy and Freedom, New York: Atheneum

[edit] External links

Find more about Privacy on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Dictionary definitions
	Textbooks
	Quotations
	Source texts
	Images and media
	News stories
	Learning resources

Privacy at the Open Directory Project
Generally Accepted Privacy Principles
OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy describe principles behind many contemporary privacy laws
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
Data Protection in the European Union, from the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security

v • d • e Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

General Principles	Article 1: Freedom, Egalitarianism, Dignity, and Brotherhood · Article 2: Universality of rights

Civil and Political Rights. Treaty: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights	Article 3: Right to life, liberty and security of person · Article 4: Freedom from slavery · Article 5: Freedom from torture and cruel, unusual punishment · Article 6: Right to personhood · Article 7: Equality before the law · Article 8: Right to effective remedy from the law · Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, and exile · Article 10: Right to fair trial · Article 11.1: Presumption of innocence · Article 11.2: Prohibition of retrospective law · Article 12: Right to Privacy · Article 13 Freedom of movement · Article 14: Right of asylum · Article 15: Right to a nationality · Article 16: Right to marriage and family life · Article 17: Right to property · Article 18: Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion · Article 19: Freedom of opinion and expression · Article 20.1: Freedom of assembly · Article 20.2: Freedom of association · Article 21.1: Right to participation in government · Article 21.2: Right of equal access to public office · Article 21.3: Right to universal suffrage

Social, Cultural and Economic Rights. Treaty: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights	Article 22: Right to social security · Article 23.1: Right to work · Article 23.2: Right to equal pay for equal work · Article 23.3: Right to just remuneration · Article 23.4: Right to join a trade union · Article 24: Right to rest & leisure · Article 25.1: Right to an adequate standard of living · Article 25.2: Right to special care and assistance for mothers and children · Article 26.1: Right to education · Article 26.2: Human rights education · Article 26.3: Right to choice of education · Article 27.1: Right to participate in culture · Article 27.2: Right to intellectual property

Context, limitations and duties	Article 28: Social order · Article 29.1: Social responsibility · Article 29.2: Limitations of human rights · Article 29.3: The supremacy of the purposes and principles of the United Nations · Article 30: Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Human Rights Category · Human Rights Portal

v • d • e Human rights

Concepts & Philosophies

Inalienable rights · Fiduciary law · Freedoms · Natural rights · Negative rights · State sovereignty · Universality · Universal jurisdiction

Organisations

International human rights bodies	Committee on the Rights of the Child · International Committee of the Red Cross · International Criminal Court · Human Rights Commission · Human Rights Committee · Human Rights Council · UN Security Council

Regional human rights bodies	African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights · African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights · African Court of Justice · European Court of Human Rights · European Committee for the Prevention of Torture · Inter-American Commission on Human Rights · Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Multi-lateral bodies involved in human rights	European Union · Council of Europe · Organisation of American States · UNHCR · UNOCHA · International Labour Organization · WHO · UNESCO · UNAIDS · UNDESA · CSW · UNFPA · UNICEF · UNIFEM · UNDP · FAO · UN-HABITAT

Major NGOs	Amnesty International · Human Rights Watch

Legal instruments

Declarations	Cairo Declaration of Human Rights · Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples · Universal Declaration of Human Rights · American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man · Paris Principles

International human rights law	Convention Against Torture · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination · Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · Convention on the Rights of the Child · International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families · International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid · International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance · International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights · International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Regional human rights law	African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights · American Convention on Human Rights · European Convention on Human Rights · European Convention on Torture · European Social Charter · Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons · Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture · Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women · Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

International humanitarian law	Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide · Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees · Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees · Geneva Conventions · Hague Conventions · Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Concepts that may be considered as human rights

Civil & Political rights	Right to life · Right to die · Right to bear arms · Right to liberty · Right to security of person · Freedom of movement · Freedom from slavery · Freedom from torture · Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment · Right to personhood · Right to equality before the law · Right to effective remedy before the law · Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention · Freedom from exile · Right to a fair trial · Right to presumption of innocence · Right to Privacy · Right of asylum · Right to a nationality · Freedom of thought and conscience · Freedom of religion · Freedom of expression · Freedom of assembly · Freedom of association · Right to suffrage · Right to marriage and family life · Right to protest

Economic & Social rights	Labor rights · Right to just remuneration · Right to equal pay for equal work · Right to join a trade union · Right to social security · Right to rest & leisure · Right to work · Right to property · Right to intellectual property · Right to participate in culture · Right to education · Freedom of education · Right to an adequate standard of living · Right to healthcare · Right to water · Right to food

Reproductive rights	Family planning · Reproductive health · Right to legal abortion · Right to genital integrity · Freedom from involuntary female genital cutting

Rights of war	Rights of civilians · Rights of prisoners of war

Categories: Privacy | Core issues in ethics | Law | Human rights | Social issues

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