Public Safety vs. Privacy

2197 Words9 Pages
The term “privacy” is used frequently in ordinary language as well as in philosophical, political, and legal discussions, yet there is no single definition or analysis or meaning of the term. The concept of privacy has broad historical roots in sociological and anthropological discussions about how extensively it is valued and preserved in various cultures. Moreover, the concept has historical origins in well known philosophical discussions, most notably Aristotle's distinction between the public sphere of political activity and the private sphere associated with family and domestic life. Yet historical use of the term is not uniform, and there remains confusion over the meaning, value and scope of the concept of privacy, as well as when it is more important for the public to be offered safety while giving up personal privacies. Early treatises on privacy appeared with the development of privacy protection in American law from the 1890's onward, and privacy protection was justified largely on moral grounds. It is hard to distinguish descriptive accounts of privacy, describing what is in fact protected as private, from regular accounts of privacy defending its value and the extent to which it should be protected. Some treat privacy as an interest with moral value, while others refer to it as a moral or legal right that ought to be protected by society or the law. Clearly one can be insensitive to another's privacy interests without violating any right to privacy, if there is one. There are several skeptical and critical accounts of privacy. According to one well known argument, there is no right to privacy and there is nothing special about privacy, because any interest protected as private can be equally well explained and protected by other interests or rights, most notably rights to property and bodily security. Other people argue that privacy interests are not
Open Document