Privacy is the ability of a person to control the availability of information about and
exposure of him- or herself. It is related to being able to function in society
anonymously
(including
pseudonymous or
blind credential[?] identification).
According to Eric Hughes[?], "Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world."[1] (http://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html)
Types of privacy giving rise to special concerns:
Some ways in which privacy is lost include the following:
- Waiver of privacy right[?] included in the terms of a contract.
- Theft of confidential information, e.g. by computer cracking[?].
- Statutory or regulatory orders to provide private material (eg, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act in the UK)
- Statutory or regulatory intrusion on private acts (assorted wiretapping provisions just about everywhere -- most do not include notice which can be opposed in a court)
- Involuntary "outing", e.g. of homosexuals, often by others of the same political category who seek openness over privacy, or opponents intent on shaming[?] them.
Some methods which have been used to defend privacy include the following:
- Non-transparent packages;
- Encryption of communications and other information;
- De jure establishment of privacy rights as an entitlement;
- sue, shun[?] or harm[?] those guilty of outing;
- toilets, showers and changing rooms separated by sex and/or with separate cubicles; partitions between urinals; possibility to lock the door;
- separate rooms for people in their house, possibility to lock the door, agreement to knock before entering (with or without waiting for a reply).
See also: The Transparent Society, carceral state, RFID, Data privacy, freedom