Introduction to Privacy and Data Protection
The Concept of ‘’Privacy’’
Privacy violations
A newspaper reports the name of a rape victim
Reporters deceitfully gain entry to a person’s home and secretly photograph and
record the person
New X-ray devices can see through people’s clothing, amounting to what some call a
‘’virtual strip-search’’
The government uses a thermal sensor device to detect heat patterns in a person’s
home
A company markets a list of five million elderly incontinent women
Despite promising not to sell its members’ personal information to others, a
company does so anyway
Right to be Let Alone
Niet alleen het fysieke recht om niet lastig te worden gevallen, maar ook dat niet
informatie van/over jou zonder jouw toestemming wordt gepubliceerd
Category of Harms
Too complicated a concept to be boiled down to a single essence (?)
Social or inherit? ‘’… the need for privacy is a socially created need. Without society
there would be no need for privacy.’’ – Sociologist Barrington Moore
‘’Me’’ vs. ‘’I’’ distinction by Post: ‘’Privacy as dignity safeguards the socialized aspects
of the self; privacy as freedom safeguards the spontaneous, independent, and
uniquely individual aspects of the self.’’
The Concept of ‘’Privacy’’
Privacy violations
A newspaper reports the name of a rape victim
Reporters deceitfully gain entry to a person’s home and secretly photograph and
record the person
New X-ray devices can see through people’s clothing, amounting to what some call a
‘’virtual strip-search’’
The government uses a thermal sensor device to detect heat patterns in a person’s
home
A company markets a list of five million elderly incontinent women
Despite promising not to sell its members’ personal information to others, a
company does so anyway
Right to be Let Alone
Niet alleen het fysieke recht om niet lastig te worden gevallen, maar ook dat niet
informatie van/over jou zonder jouw toestemming wordt gepubliceerd
Category of Harms
Too complicated a concept to be boiled down to a single essence (?)
Social or inherit? ‘’… the need for privacy is a socially created need. Without society
there would be no need for privacy.’’ – Sociologist Barrington Moore
‘’Me’’ vs. ‘’I’’ distinction by Post: ‘’Privacy as dignity safeguards the socialized aspects
of the self; privacy as freedom safeguards the spontaneous, independent, and
uniquely individual aspects of the self.’’
