Privacy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

177 Pages·2010·2.41 MB·English

by  Raymond Wacks

Privacy:AVeryShortIntroduction
VERYSHORTINTRODUCTIONSareforanyonewantingastimulating
andaccessiblewayintoanewsubject.Theyarewrittenbyexperts,and
havebeenpublishedinmorethan25languagesworldwide.
Theseriesbeganin1995,andnowrepresentsawidevarietyoftopicsin
history,philosophy,religion,science,andthehumanities.TheVSIlibrary
nowcontainsover200volumes—aVeryShortIntroductiontoeverything
fromancientEgyptandIndianphilosophytoconceptualartand
cosmology—andwillcontinuetogrowtoalibraryofaround300titles.
VeryShortIntroductionsavailablenow:
AFRICANHISTORY CHAOS LeonardSmith
JohnParkerandRichardRathbone CHOICETHEORY MichaelAllingham
AMERICANPOLITICALPARTIES CHRISTIANART BethWilliamson
ANDELECTIONS L.SandyMaisel CHRISTIANITY LindaWoodhead
THEAMERICANPRESIDENCY CITIZENSHIP RichardBellamy
CharlesO.Jones CLASSICALMYTHOLOGY
ANARCHISM ColinWard HelenMorales
ANCIENTEGYPT IanShaw CLASSICS
ANCIENTPHILOSOPHY JuliaAnnas MaryBeardandJohnHenderson
ANCIENTWARFARE CLAUSEWITZ MichaelHoward
HarrySidebottom THECOLDWAR RobertMcMahon
ANGLICANISM MarkChapman CONSCIOUSNESS SusanBlackmore
THEANGLO-SAXONAGE JohnBlair CONTEMPORARYARTJulianStallabrass
ANIMALRIGHTS DavidDeGrazia CONTINENTALPHILOSOPHY
ANTISEMITISM StevenBeller SimonCritchley
TheAPOCRYPHALGOSPELS COSMOLOGY PeterColes
PaulFoster THECRUSADES ChristopherTyerman
ARCHAEOLOGY PaulBahn CRYPTOGRAPHY
ARCHITECTURE AndrewBallantyne FredPiperandSeanMurphy
ARISTOTLE JonathanBarnes DADAANDSURREALISM
ARTHISTORY DanaArnold DavidHopkins
ARTTHEORY CynthiaFreeland DARWIN JonathanHoward
ATHEISM JulianBaggini THEDEADSEASCROLLS TimothyLim
AUGUSTINE HenryChadwick DEMOCRACY BernardCrick
AUTISM UtaFrith DESERTS NickMiddleton
BARTHES JonathanCuller DESCARTES TomSorell
BESTSELLERS JohnSutherland DESIGN JohnHeskett
THEBIBLE JohnRiches DINOSAURS DavidNorman
BIBLICALARCHEOLOGY EricH.Cline DOCUMENTARYFILM
BIOGRAPHY HermioneLee PatriciaAufderheide
THEBOOKOFMORMANTerrylGivens DREAMING J.AllanHobson
THEBRAIN MichaelO’Shea DRUGS LeslieIversen
BRITISHPOLITICS AnthonyWright THEEARTH MartinRedfern
BUDDHA MichaelCarrithers ECONOMICS ParthaDasgupta
BUDDHISM DamienKeown EGYPTIANMYTH GeraldinePinch
BUDDHISTETHICS DamienKeown EIGHTEENTH-CENTURYBRITAIN
CAPITALISM JamesFulcher PaulLangford
CATHOLICISM GeraldO’Collins THEELEMENTS PhilipBall
THECELTS BarryCunliffe EMOTION DylanEvans
EMPIRE StephenHowe INDIANPHILOSOPHY SueHamilton
ENGELS TerrellCarver INTELLIGENCE IanJ.Deary
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BrianandDeborahCharlesworth ISLAM MaliseRuthven
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FASCISM KevinPassmore JOURNALISM IanHargreaves
FEMINISM MargaretWalters JUDAISM NormanSolomon
FASHION RebeccaArnold JUNG AnthonyStevens
THEFIRSTWORLDWAR KABBALAH JosephDan
MichaelHoward KAFKA RitchieRobertson
FOSSILS KeithThomson KANT RogerScruton
FOUCAULT GaryGutting KIERKEGAARD PatrickGardiner
FREEWILL ThomasPink THEKORAN MichaelCook
FREESPEECH NigelWarburton LAW RaymondWacks
THEFRENCHREVOLUTION LINCOLN AllenC.Guelzo
WilliamDoyle LINGUISTICS PeterMatthews
FREUD AnthonyStorr LITERARYTHEORY JonathanCuller
FUNDAMENTALISM MaliseRuthven LOCKE JohnDunn
GALAXIES JohnGribbin LOGIC GrahamPriest
GALILEO StillmanDrake MACHIAVELLI QuentinSkinner
GAMETHEORY KenBinmore THEMARQUISDESADE JohnPhillips
GANDHI BhikhuParekh MARX PeterSinger
GEOGRAPHY MATHEMATICS TimothyGowers
JohnMatthewsandDavidHerbert THEMEANINGOFLIFE
GEOPOLITICS KlausDodds TerryEagleton
GERMANLITERATURE NicholasBoyle MEDICALETHICS TonyHope
GLOBALCATASTROPHES MEDIEVALBRITAIN
BillMcGuire JohnGillinghamandRalphA.Griffiths
GLOBALWARMING MarkMaslin MEMORY JonathanK.Foster
GLOBALIZATION ManfredSteger MODERNART DavidCottington
THEGREATDEPRESSIONANDTHE MODERNCHINA RanaMitter
NEWDEAL EricRauchway MODERNIRELAND SeniaPaˇseta
HABERMAS JamesGordonFinlayson MODERNJAPANChristopherGoto-Jones
HEGEL PeterSinger MOLECULES PhilipBall
HEIDEGGER MichaelInwood MORMONISM
HIEROGLYPHS PenelopeWilson RichardLymanBushman
HINDUISM KimKnott MUSIC NicholasCook
HISTORY JohnH.Arnold MYTH RobertA.Segal
THEHISTORYOFASTRONOMY NATIONALISM StevenGrosby
MichaelHoskin NELSONMANDELA EllekeBoehmer
THEHISTORYOFLIFE MichaelBenton THENEWTESTAMENTAS
THEHISTORYOFMEDICINE LITERATURE KyleKeefer
WilliamBynum NEWTON RobertIliffe
THEHISTORYOFTIME NIETZSCHE MichaelTanner
LeofrancHolford-Strevens NINETEENTH-CENTURYBRITAIN
HIV/AIDS AlanWhiteside ChristopherHarvieand
HOBBES RichardTuck H.C.G.Matthew
HUMANEVOLUTION BernardWood THENormanConquest
HUMANRIGHTS AndrewClapham GeorgeGarnett
HUME A.J.Ayer NORTHERNIRELAND
IDEOLOGY MichaelFreeden MarcMulholland
NOTHING FrankClose THERUSSIANREVOLUTION
NUCLEARWEAPONSJosephM.Siracusa S.A.Smith
THEOLDTESTAMENTMichaelD.Coogan SCHIZOPHRENIA
PARTICLEPHYSICS FrankClose ChrisFrithandEveJohnstone
PAUL E.P.Sanders SCHOPENHAUERChristopherJanaway
PHILOSOPHY EdwardCraig SCIENCEANDRELIGION
PHILOSOPHYOFLAW ThomasDixon
RaymondWacks SCOTLAND RabHouston
PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCE SEXUALITY Ve´roniqueMottier
SamirOkasha SHAKESPEARE GermaineGreer
PHOTOGRAPHY SteveEdwards SIKHISM EleanorNesbitt
PLATO JuliaAnnas SOCIALANDCULTURAL
POLITICALPHILOSOPHY DavidMiller ANTHROPOLOGY
POLITICS KennethMinogue JohnMonaghanandPeterJust
POSTCOLONIALISM RobertYoung SOCIALISM MichaelNewman
POSTMODERNISM ChristopherButler SOCIOLOGY SteveBruce
POSTSTRUCTURALISM SOCRATES C.C.W.Taylor
CatherineBelsey TheSOVIETUNION
PREHISTORY ChrisGosden StephenLovell
PRESOCRATICPHILOSOPHY THESPANISHCIVILWAR
CatherineOsborne HelenGraham
Privacy RaymondWacks SPINOZA RogerScruton
Puritanism FrancisJ.Bremer STATISTICS DavidJ.Hand
PSYCHIATRY TomBurns STUARTBRITAIN JohnMorrill
PSYCHOLOGY SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
GillianButlerandFredaMcManus StephenBlundell
THEQUAKERS PinkDandelion TERRORISM CharlesTownshend
QUANTUMTHEORY THEOLOGY DavidF.Ford
JohnPolkinghorne ThomasAquinas FergusKerr
RACISM AliRattansi TRAGEDY AdrianPoole
TheReformation PeterMarshall THETUDORS JohnGuy
RELATIVITY RussellStannard TWENTIETH-CENTURYBRITAIN
RELIGIONINAMERICA TimothyBeal KennethO.Morgan
TheReaganRevolution GilTroy THEUNITEDNATIONS
THERENAISSANCE JerryBrotton JussiM.Hanhim¨aki
RENAISSANCEART THEVIKINGS JulianRichards
GeraldineA.Johnson WITTGENSTEIN A.C.Grayling
ROMANBRITAIN PeterSalway WORLDMUSIC PhilipBohlman
THEROMANEMPIRE ChristopherKelly THEWORLDTRADE
ROUSSEAU RobertWokler ORGANIZATION AmritaNarlikar
RUSSELL A.C.Grayling WRITINGANDSCRIPT
RUSSIANLITERATURE CatrionaKelly AndrewRobinson
Availablesoon:
neoliberalism Progressivism
ManfredB.StegerandRaviK.Roy WalterNugent
ForensicScience Information LucianoFloridi
JimFraser TheLawsof
Epidemiology thermodynamics
RoldolfoSaracci PeterAtkins
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Raymond Wacks
Privacy
A Very Short Introduction
3
3
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ISBN 978–0–19–955653–3
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Contents
Preface ix
Listofillustrations xv
1 Theassault 1
2 Anenduringvalue 30
3 Alegalright 51
4 Privacyandfreespeech 81
5 Dataprotection 110
6 Thedeathofprivacy? 132
Annex 139
References 141
Furtherreading 147
Index 155
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Preface
Scarcelyadaypasseswithoutreportsofyetanotheronslaughton
ourprivacy.AlmostexactlythirtyyearsagoIpublishedanother
smallbookonthiscontentioussubject.ReadingTheProtectionof
Privacynow,oneisinescapablystruckbythetectonicshifts
wroughtbyadvancesintechnology.Mostconspicuous,ofcourse,
isthefragilityofpersonalinformationonline.Otherthreats
generatedbythedigitalworldabound:innovationsinbiometrics,
CCTVsurveillance,RadioFrequencyIdentification(RFID)
systems,smartidentitycards,andthemanifoldanti-terrorist
measuresallposethreatstothisfundamentalvalue–evenin
democraticsocieties.Atthesametime,however,thedisconcerting
explosionofprivatedatathroughthegrowthofblogs,social
networkingsites,suchasMySpace,Facebook,YouTube,Twitter,
andothercontrivancesoftheInformationAgerendersimple
generalitiesaboutthesignificanceofprivacyproblematic.The
adventofWeb2.0hasenlargedtheInternetfromaninformation
providertoacommunitycreator.Andtheinsatiablehungerfor
gossipcontinuestofuelsensationalistmediathatfrequently
degradethenotionofaprivatedomaintowhichwelegitimatelylay
claim.Celebrityisindefensiblydeemedalicencetointrude.
Themannerinwhichinformationiscollected,stored,exchanged,
andusedhaschangedforever–andwithit,thecharacterofthe
threatstoindividualprivacy.Butwhiletheelectronicrevolution