Privacy is the claim of individuals want to be alone. Free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or state. Claim to control information about yourself. 

Privacy can mean:

• • Freedom from intrusion.
  • Control of information about oneself.
  • Freedom from surveillance.
  • IT Societies are Surveillance Societies
    o IT allows people to be easily tracked and monitored.
    o Eg: Data can create profiles of individuals. The data can be “mined” for patterns of behavior.

Privacy as a Value

• • Control of information about ourselves is important for our autonomy (freedom from external control or influence; independence).
  • We need to release information about ourselves in some contexts, but should have control over whether it flows to other places.

Category of privacy:

1. Individual privacy

• • The interests that individual have in sustaining a personal space. Free from the interference by other people and organizations.

2. Personal communication privacy

• • It refers to media technology that will be used in personal to share or communicate some information with another.
  • E.g.: Telephone communication. Two persons communicated with each other, then if someone crossed the line and heard the conversation, it become invasions privacy.

3. Information privacy

• • It refers to the right of individual to deny or restrict the collection and use of information about them.
  • It is easier to maintain because information is keep in separate locations.
  • Eg: Doctor had their own patient information and located the information on separated files.

4. Personal data privacy

• • Today huge databases store the data in online databases
  • much of the data is personal and confidential and should be accessible to only allowed users
  • some individuals collect and use this information without authorization