Questions for Thought and Discussion

• What do you understand by the concept of ‘privacy’? Why has it proved so difficult to define?
• What are the main functions of privacy? What interests or values does privacy protect?
• What do you understand by ‘personal information’? Is your telephone number ‘personal information’?
• Do you agree with the judgments in the cases involving (a) Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones? (b) Naomi Campbell? (c) Princess Caroline?
• If CCTV cameras can be shown to deter crime and apprehend offenders, should their use be encouraged rather than condemned?
• Analyse the relationship between the right of privacy and freedom of speech. Can these two (apparently competing) democratic ideals be reconciled? If so, how?
• Identity cards are required in many countries. Why do privacy advocates oppose their use?
• ‘We must build into the architecture a capacity to enable choice – not choice by humans but by machines. The architecture must enable machine-to-machine negotiations about privacy so that individuals can instruct their machines about the privacy they want to protect.’ (Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace p163). How realistic is this prospect? How might it be achieved? Why should cyberspace be willing to build this architecture?
• Is privacy an unqualified good? If not, what deficiencies or shortcomings does privacy have as a value?
• What is the difference between ‘privacy’ and the following? Confidentiality, Security, Secrecy, Defamation, Freedom of speech, Autonomy
• On what grounds do Warren and Brandeis base their case for the recognition of a legal right to privacy?
• What is a ‘biometric?’ Do biometrics undermine personal privacy? How?
• In what respects can PETS repel attacks on personal data and improve security online?
• How is the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade related to the protection of privacy?
• Can you explain the differential cultural and social attitudes towards ‘privacy’ (in its most general sense) in various societies?
• What is the central purpose of data protection legislation? In what respects does it preserve privacy? Would a comprehensive data protection regime obviate the need for privacy legislation?
• Why should the revelations by NSA whistle-blower, Edward Snowden of surveillance by the intelligence services in several countries, worry ordinary, law-abiding individuals or groups?
• Why have Google and Facebook been attacked for failing adequately to protect users’ privacy? Are these criticisms justified?
• What is the ‘right to be forgotten’? Does its enforcement undermine freedom of expression or freedom of information?
• Is privacy dead?

Other books by Raymond Wacks

• The Protection of Privacy(Sweet & Maxwell, 1980)
• Personal Information: Privacy and the Law (OUP, 1989 and 1993)
• Privacy, Volumes 1 and 2(Dartmouth and New York University Press, 1993)
• Privacy and Press Freedom (Blackstone Press, 1995)
• Privacy and Media Freedom (OUP 2013)

Further reading

• Goldsmith, J. and Wu, T., Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World(Oxford University Press, 2006)
• Solove, D.J.,Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security (Yale University Press, 2013)
• Angwin, J.,Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance (Times Books, 2014)
• Brenner, J.,Glass Houses: Privacy, Secrecy, and Cyber Insecurity in a Transparent World(Penguin, 2013)
• Witzleb, N., Lindsay, D., Paterson, M., Rodrick. S., (eds),Emerging Challenges in Privacy Law: Comparative Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
• Bygrave, L.A.,Data Privacy Law: An International Perspective(Oxford University Press, 2014)