Privacy Definition Counter
This is the privacy definition counter. Please add your own privacy definitions in the comments section below. Here’s a few for starters:
Definition: Privacy is a state of separateness from others
Author: G. Laurie
Reference: Genetic Privacy, p6
Definition: Privacy protection is frequently seen as a way of drawing the line at how far society can intrude into a person’s affairs
Author: Privacy International
Reference: Privacy and Human Rights review 2004
Definition: Privacy is the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.
Author: Alan Westin
Reference: Privacy and Freedom, 1970
Definition: The right to live, as far as one wishes, protected from publicity, and to a certain degree, the right to establish and develop relationships with other human beings, especially, in the emotional field for the development and fulfilment of one’s own personality.
Author: European Commission on Human Rights, exploring the limits of the right to respect for private life in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Reference: X v. Iceland 1976 (a case declared inadmissible).
Definition: Privacy is control over when and by whom the various parts of us can be sensed by others
Author: B. Parker
Reference: A definition of privacy, Rutgers Law Review, 1974
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Definition: Spatial privacy is a “state of non-access to the individual’s physical or psychological self”
Author: G. Laurie
Reference: Genetic Privacy, Cambridge University Press, UK (2002) p6
Comment by jwright — September 23, 2007 #
Definition: “Individual Privacy: from the ethical point of view, it matters the protection of individual freedom, defining a zone of personal life virtually not accessible to any external intrusion. The term “privacy” may include four different dimensions: a) Physical Privacy, this meaning the limitation of physical accessibility, of any kind, without self-consent ; b) Mental Privacy, this meaning the restriction of any illegitimate interference on person’s mind or will; c) Decisional Privacy, which is referred to the freedom on individual choice; and d) Informational Privacy, reached through the imposition of limits to the non-authorized access to individual information
Author: Conselho Nacional de Ética para as Ciências da Vida - CNECV (National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences) – Portugal
Reference: Opinion 43/CNECV/01 - Available in www.cnecv.gov.pt
Comment by Rafael Vale Reis — December 3, 2007 #
Definition: privacy is “selective control of access to the self or to one’s group”.
Author: Irwin Altman
Reference: The Environment and Social Behaviour (Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, U.S, 1975), p18
Comment by Jessica Wright — February 4, 2008 #
Definition: “The state of privacy is related to the act of concealment. Privacy is an outcome of a person’s wish to withhold from others certain knowledge as to his past and present experience and action and his intentions for the future”
Author: S. M. Jourard
Reference: “Some Psychological Aspects of Privacy” in Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 31, No. 2, Privacy. (Spring, 1966), pp. 307-318.
Comment by Jessica Wright — February 9, 2008 #
Definition: Privacy is “a person’s feeling that others should be excluded from something which is of concern to him” while also recognising that “others have a right to do this”.
Author: Alan P Bates
Reference: “Privacy-a Useful Concept?” in Social Forces, Vol. 42, No. 4. (May, 1964), pp. 429-434.
Comment by Jessica Wright — February 10, 2008 #
Definition: “Privacy is a “zero-relationship” between two persons or two groups or between a group and a person. It is a “zero-relationship” in the sense that it is constituted by the absence of interaction or communication or perception within contexts in which such interaction, communication, or perception is practicable-i.e., within a common ecological situation, such as that arising from spatial contiguity or membership in a single embracing collectivity such as a family, a working group, and ultimately a whole society.”
Author: Edward Shils
Reference “Privacy: Its Constitution and Vicissitudes” in Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 31, No. 2, Privacy. (Spring, 1966), pp. 281-306.
Comment by Jessica Wright — February 10, 2008 #
Definition: “the right is based essentially upon the recognition of the individual’s interest that he should be protected against any intrusion into his intimate life and into any part of his existence which he might legitimately desire to keep to himself. This should include protection against intrusion into one’s private affairs, against the public disclosure of private facts, and against publicity which places one in a false light in the public eye.”
Author: A. H. Robertson
Reference: Privacy and Human Rights, Manchester University Press, 1973, viii.
Comment by Jessica Wright — March 14, 2008 #
A very interesting distinction, to think of:
“Privacy and confidentiality are terms sometimes used interchangeably. Although related to each other, these
are not identical concepts. Fundamentally, privacy is about persons; confidentiality is about information.
Privacy includes both the idea of respect for personal autonomy and an interest in freedom from
uninvited and unwarranted intrusions. Privacy refers to our right to control access to ourselves and to our
personal information. In the context of research, an individual’s right to privacy is generally protected by
the right to refuse to participate in research. Privacy issues arise when investigators wish to use identifiable
biological material or records without obtaining consent.
The principle of confidentiality provides an assurance that personal information will not be disclosed
to unauthorised persons, processes, or devices. Confidentiality refers to agreements made with subjects,
through the consent process, about if and how information provided by individuals will be protected.
These agreements may include descriptions about whether or not identifiers will be retained, who will
have access to identifiable data and what methods will be used to safeguard data. Confidentiality can
also be implied by the circumstances and may not be dependent on an express agreement.
Security is related to privacy and confidentiality in that it ensures and protects privacy and confidentiality.
Security concerns the measures implemented by an organisation to ensure that there is no undesired
disclosure of confidential information. An assurance of confidentiality is meaningless without attention to
security safeguards.”
Author:Irish Council for Bioethics
Reference: Human Biological Material: Recommendations for Collection, Use and Storage in Research
2005
Comment by Helena Moniz — March 30, 2008 #
“The right to privacy consists essentially in the right to live one’s own life with a minimum of interference. It contains private, family and home life, physical and moral integrity, honour and reputation, avoidance of being placed in a false light, non-revelation of irrelevant and embarassing facts, unauthorised publication of private photographs, protection against misuse of private communications, protection from disclosure of information given or received by the individual confidentially. Those who, by their own actions, have encouraged indiscreet revelations about which they complain later on, cannot avail themselves of the right to privacy”.
Author: Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly
Reference: Resolution 428 of 23 Jan 1970 containing a declaration on mass communication media and human rights.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
“The [current] privacy paradigm rests on a conception of society as comprising relatively autonomous individuals. […] The modern claim to privacy, then, is based on a notion of a boundary, between the individual and other individuals, and between the individual and the state.”
Author: Bennett, C.J. and Raab, C.D
Reference: Bennett, C.J. and Raab, C.D. 2006. The Governance of Privacy: Policy Instruments in Global Perspective. Cambridge (USA): MIT Press.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
Definition: “A person has privacy to the extent that others have limited access to him, limited access to the intimacies of his life, or limited access to his thoughts or body”.
Author: Schoeman, 1984.
Reference: Cited in Newell 1995 “Perspectives on Privacy” Journal of Environmental Psychology 15, 87-104, at 90.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
Definition: “Privacy ‘is the state of the agent having control over a realm of intimacy, which contains her decisions about intimate access to herself (including intimate information access) and her decisions about her own intimate actions’”.
Author: Inness
Reference: Cited in “Privacies: An Overview” In Rössler B. (ed.) Privacies. USA, Stanford University Press 2004.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
Definition: “privacy [is] the condition of being protected from unwanted access by others – either physical access, personal information or attention. Claims to privacy are claims to control access”.
Author: Bok, 1982.
Reference: Cited in “Privacies: An Overview” In Rössler B. (ed.) Privacies. USA, Stanford University Press 2004.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
Definition: “Personal Privacy is a condition of inaccessibility of the person, his or her mental states, or information about the person to the senses or surveillance of others”.
Author: Anita Allen, 1988.
Reference: Allen, A.L. 1988. Uneasy Access: Privacy for Women in a Free Society. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
Definition: “Privacy, as a whole or in part, represents control over transactions between person(s) and other(s), the ultimate aim of which is to enhance autonomy and/or to minimize vulnerability”
Author: Stephen Margulis, 1977
Reference: Cited in Margulis (2003a) “Privacy as a Social Issue and Behavioural Concept” Journal of Social Issues 59(2), 243-261, at 10.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #
Definition: the “right to be let alone”.
Authors: Warren & Brandeis, 1890.
Reference: “The Right To Privacy” Harvard Law Review 4(5), 193-200.
Comment by Jessica Wright — April 17, 2009 #