Part I: The Right to Privacy
Part II: The Nature of Consent
Part III: Transparency
Part IV: A Framework for the Consideration of Privacy Issues
As discussed in section one, the right to privacy is an individual right to decide for oneself what information to share. Moreover, the exercise of other fundamental rights requires the individual to sacrifice privacy in the service of what they determine to be a higher value. Anyone who cares to disagree will inadvertently prove this assertion because one cannot maintain absolute privacy while expressing ones thoughts and beliefs. They would have to sacrifice some measure of their privacy in order to exercise their freedom of expression to communicate their disagreement.
Privacy, therefore, is akin to currency. It’s fine for a person to trade it for things they consider to be of higher value. It’s wrong to steal it. Some transactions, in retrospect, are seen to have been a good deal; some may seem less so. One person may be quite willing to engage in transactions that are beyond the comprehension of another person. Consent matters and consent reaches its most fulsome expression when the terms of the exchange are transparent.
Having established a conception of the Right to Privacy, the Nature of Consent, and Transparency, we are in a position to lay out a framework for public debate on privacy issues and, later, the scope for the role of self-appointed third parties in that debate.
All transactions bearing upon an individual’s privacy can be described in terms of the transparency of the exchange and the level of individual consent to the exchange.
Transparency
-Opaque. The individual has absolutely no knowledge about how the relevant privacy information may be used or by whom it may be used.
-Vague. The information may be used in ways that the person who shares the information would not reasonably suspect.
-Customary. The information may be shared in ways that the person would reasonably suspect.
-Transparent. The terms and conditions stating the exact circumstances under which the information may be shared are published and acknowledged to be understood by both parties.
Consent
-Mandated. An individual has no legal right to withhold information they might wish to keep private. Refusal to cooperate may entail incarceration or fines.
-Contingent. In order to engage in a certain relationship or arrangement or partake of a privilege an individual is required to share information they might otherwise prefer to keep to themselves.
-De facto. Through convention or common acceptance -- so widely understood as not to require explicit codification. Common sense.
-Explicit. Formally accepted -- signified by positive acts such as gestures, speech, oaths, affirmations or contracts.
Although, there is room for disagreement as to the exact character of each individual privacy transaction (which of the chart's boxes it fits into), they can all be placed somewhere on the chart above.
Hopefully, the above framework can start to break Privacy into more manageable pieces in furtherance of enhanced understanding of this issue that is so important to us all.
Next:
Part V: Filling in the framework; Absolute advocacy dos and don'ts
Part VI: Filling in the framework, subjectivity and interpretation
