|
Where am I now? Lawlink > privacynsw > Your Privacy > What is privacy?
|
Print page
|
What is privacy?
Privacy has sometimes been described as:
- the right to be left alone, or
- the right to exercise control over one’s personal information, or
- a set of conditions necessary to protect our individual dignity and autonomy.
We often think about privacy in different ways, for example:
- physical privacy - such as bag searching, use of our DNA
- information privacy – the way in which governments or organisations handle our personal information such as our age, address, sexual preference and so on.
- freedom from excessive surveillance – our right to go about our daily lives without being surveilled or have all our actions caught on camera.
In different situations we may prefer one or other definition. We may also choose to emphasise different aspects of privacy depending on the reasons why we think that privacy is important.
Privacy is important because it is:
- a way of controlling the power which people or organisations gain through collecting and storing information about others,
- a means of securing the trust which people expect in return for providing accurate information about themselves,
- a necessary condition for living in a society which values freedom and diversity, and
- the basis on which we form meaningful relations with other people by deciding how much of ourselves to reveal or conceal to any given person.
Earlier discussions about privacy tended to emphasise the way it protected home and family life. Our approach has changed with new forms of technology and communication that have overcome the physical boundaries that used to separate the domestic and public spheres. Greater recognition of the rights of women and children have also altered some traditional views about privacy.
Some people claim that because of new technologies privacy no longer exists or is no longer a useful way of trying to protect our selves and our interests. Opinion polls and surveys consistently show that most people continue to believe that privacy is important.
|
|
