Chapter 2. Defining Privacy: Social and Legal Aspects
In the 1890s, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis defined the concept of privacy as an individual's “right to be left alone.” Brandeis said that privacy was the most cherished of freedoms of a democracy. If Justice Brandeis could see the state of our personal privacy today, he would have a heart attack.
The two forms of privacy we are concerned with in this book are
Information privacy— Rules governing the collection and handling of personal data, such as credit information, personal preferences, home address information, and medical records. Closely tied to this concept is security of private data and privacy of communications.
Privacy of communications— The security and privacy of mail, wireless telephones, e-mail, wireless devices, and other forms of communication.
Privacy is a value that is protected by the right to control one's personal information. The use of various forms of communications, with the Internet being the major channel, has raised legal and social aspects about the expectation of privacy. Prior to the communications revolution that we are facing today, securing your personal information was much simpler. Theft or compromise of your privacy required hardcopy materials and much effort. The ease with which this can now be done is frightening. The question we are faced with is this: Is privacy a right? If so, how do we go about achieving this right? Some might argue that we have voluntarily given up our right to privacy because of the use of technology and communications, and it will just be harder to keep our information secure in the coming technology environment.
The legal rights to privacy have taken several paths. In some countries, comprehensive laws have been defined to govern the collection, use, and dissemination of personal information in both the public and private sectors. Governing bodies then enforce compliance with these laws. Other countries have defined specific laws to address segments of privacy issues, such as child pornography. The U.S. government has taken a hands-off approach to regulations and relies on industry to come up with its own set of regulations. Laws that address privacy issues and self-regulation have been very disappointing. Those laws have not been very specific and therefore leave a lot of room for interpretation. Self-regulation is always in favor of the industry rather than the individual. Enforcement of laws and regulations is one of the major problems with privacy initiatives, so the individual must take control of her information and become knowledgeable in the art of privacy.