Privacy
Privacy is the ability to seclude oneself or information selectively.
Privacy describes the capacity of a person or a group to keep themselves or their details away from others, allowing them to choose what they share. This idea partly overlaps with security, which involves using and protecting information properly, and can also relate to physical integrity. Over time, different societies have held various views on privacy, but most accept that people have a right to keep parts of their personal lives separate from public view. Many nations have laws—and sometimes constitutional provisions—that protect individuals from unauthorized privacy intrusions by governments, companies, or other people.
As technology has developed, the conversation about privacy has moved beyond the physical body to include the digital world. In most countries, digital privacy is seen as an extension of the traditional right to privacy, and numerous governments have passed laws to shield digital privacy from both public and private entities. There are many ways to invade privacy, often used by corporations or governments for profit or political ends. In response, people can use encryption or stay anonymous to safeguard their own privacy.
The word "privacy" comes from the Latin "privatus," meaning something set apart from what is public—personal and belonging to oneself, not the state. Literally, "privatus" is the past participle of "privere," which means "to be deprived of."
Philosophically, privacy has deep roots. Ancient Greeks, notably Aristotle, distinguished between the public sphere of political life (the polis) and the private sphere of domestic life (the oikos). The Jewish Book of Sirach values privacy alongside basic necessities, and the Qur'an instructs: "Do not spy on one another" (49:12) and "Do not enter any houses except your own homes unless you are sure of their occupants' consent" (24:27). English philosopher John Locke argued in his 1689 *Second Treatise of Civil Government* that natural rights to life, liberty, and property entitle a person to themselves, and that government should protect these rights, ensuring private spaces for personal activities. Later, German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Hegel distinguished between *Moralität* (private judgment) and *Sittlichkeit* (rights and duties within a social order), while English philosopher Jeremy Bentham saw law itself as an invasion of privacy, judging actions by their utility. John St
- Etymology
- Derived from Latin 'privatus', meaning set apart from what is public; personal and belonging to oneself, not to the state.
- Key Philosophical Figure
- Aristotle distinguished between the public sphere of the polis and the private sphere of the oikos.
- Key Legal Figure
- John Locke's writings on natural rights laid groundwork for modern conceptions of the right to privacy.
- Key Technological Milestone
- The 1890 article 'The Right to Privacy' by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis is generally agreed to be the first publication advocating privacy in the United States.
- Landmark Case
- United States v. Jones (2012) ruled that warrantless GPS tracking infringes the Fourth Amendment.
- Landmark Case 2
- Riley v. California (2014) ruled that searching a citizen's phone without a warrant is an unreasonable search.
Lore & Background
With the rise of technology, the debate regarding privacy expanded from a bodily sense to include a digital sense. The first publication advocating privacy in the United States was the 1890 article by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis, 'The Right to Privacy', written mainly in response to increases in newspapers and photographs made possible by printing technologies. In the 1960s, Vance Packard's The Naked Society and Alan Westin's Privacy and Freedom shifted the debate from a physical sense to include personal data, with Westin arguing that a person should have complete jurisdiction over their data. In 2001, the legal case Kyllo v. United States determined that using thermal imaging devices without a warrant constitutes a violation of privacy. In 2019, Apple and Amazon required employees to listen to intimate moments and faithfully transcribe contents after developing a corporate rivalry in competing voice-recognition software.
Reader's Guide
Privacy's significance lies in its evolution from a philosophical and legal concept to a central issue in the digital age. Historically, philosophers like Aristotle, Locke, and Mill shaped the understanding of privacy as a sphere separate from public and state control, while Bentham and Foucault explored the implications of surveillance. The legal framework for privacy has been built through landmark cases such as United States v. Jones (2012), which ruled that warrantless GPS tracking infringes the Fourth Amendment, and Riley v. California (2014), which held that searching a citizen's phone without a warrant is an unreasonable search. These cases established that the Fourth Amendment applies to both physical and digital instances of intrusion. The rise of technology has created new ways to gather private information, as seen in the Kyllo v. United States case and the 2019 corporate practice of requiring employees to listen to intimate moments. The debate continues over unequal effects of weak privacy protections, with law professor Scott Skinner-Thompson arguing that marginalized and vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected. Privacy remains a contested domain, with multiple techniques to invade it employed by corporations or governments for profit or political reasons, and individuals may employ encryption or anonymity measures to protect their privacy.
Did You Know?
- The word 'privacy' is derived from the Latin 'privatus', the past participle of 'privere' meaning 'to be deprived of'.
- The Qur'an states regarding privacy: 'Do not spy on one another' (49:12).
- The 1890 article 'The Right to Privacy' by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis is generally agreed to be the first publication advocating privacy in the United States.
- In 2019, Apple and Amazon required employees to listen to intimate moments and faithfully transcribe contents after developing a corporate rivalry in competing voice-recognition software.
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