5 Privacy

 

This chapter covers

  • The uniquely personal nature of privacy
  • The definition of privacy and privacy in the context of history and society
  • The difference between the need for privacy and the right to privacy
  • Privacy as a basic human need
  • Data privacy in relation to secrecy, trust, data ownership, human psychology, and technology

If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.1 

—IBM research engineer Emerson Pugh

Privacy has been a charged topic going back to ancient Greece. The US was the first country to expand Constitutional protection to citizen privacy in Supreme Court decisions under the first five and the 14th amendments.2  Privacy is a very personal topic for most people, evoking strong emotions and feelings.

Privacy means different things to each person. The sphere of data, behavior, and public/private activities where people want or need privacy are unique to each individual. Privacy is especially personal when you consider the types of behavior that people want the most privacy for; we can all understand why there are differences of opinions regarding privacy and closely related topics.

5.1 Privacy defined

5.2 Privacy throughout history

5.2.1 The internet has not eliminated privacy

5.2.2 Privacy crosses sociology, psychology, and basic human conditions

5.2.3 The need for privacy compared to the right of privacy

5.3 Psychology and privacy

5.4 We need privacy like we need sleep

5.5 Privacy and secrecy

5.6 Two sides of privacy

5.7 Privacy and human behavior

5.8 Privacy precepts

5.9 Poor privacy policies

5.10 Enlightened privacy policies and related data protection