On Privacy

Description

From celebrity-snapping paparazzi to workplace surveillance, privacy is a very public issue. In this volume, Annabelle Lever examines privacy from all perspectives, and shows how the very concept of privacy is far more complex than at first it seems.

Arguing that the central question is whether privacy is sufficiently important to be considered a legal right, Lever examines the problems of defining privacy before considering the threats privacy can pose to freedom, equality and social solidarity. She looks at the way protection of privacy - through anonymity and confidentiality - can promote freedom of expression, and identifies three areas where protection of privacy is particularly controversial: the family (particularly issues of sex and sexuality), the workplace and government.

Drawing on government reports and legal decisions from the US and around the world, as well as anthropological, philosophical and political literature from a variety of perspectives, On Privacy asks if privacy is an entitlement that protects us from oppression and exploitation, or whether we are too quick to overlook its costs in the concealment of irresponsible and dangerous behavior.

Contents

Part A: Theory 1. Privacy in Politics, Law and Contemporary Debate 2. Why is a Right to Privacy Hard to Define? 3. Is Privacy a Threat to Liberty, Equality and Social Solidarity? Part B: Practice 4. Privacy and the Family 5. Privacy and the Workplace 6. Privacy and Government

Related Subjects

1. Political Philosophy
2. Political Theory
3. Social Theory