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].
– I.B.M. research engineer Emerson Pugh
Privacy is a charged topic; it has been throughout my entire life and it was a charged and curious topic before my lifetime.
The strong emotions and feelings relating to privacy are, in part, because privacy is a very personal topic that means different things to each person. The sphere of data, behavior, and public and private activities where people want privacy for 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.
One of the reasons that I enjoy writing is that it makes me think about topics that we take for granted in our daily lives. Topics that we as individuals, and families, and groups, talk about infrequently or possibly not at all. Writing provides me an opportunity to examine these topics, my views, the history of the topic, and the ways that the topic has been treated over time.