Does greater security require less privacy? Which do we value more - the feeling of safety from being watched or the feeling of being free from being watched? Some surveillance proponents argue, "if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear", while civil libertarians and privacy advocates quote Benjamin Franklin’s admonition, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither liberty or safety."
The more practical middle ground asks whether an invasion of privacy is truly necessary to solve the problem; whether all other approaches have been tried first; whether there are checks on the decision makers; and whether the private information collected is returned, destroyed, or protected, as appropriate.
Despite the growth of the right to privacy, the right has never been an absolute one preventing any intrusion into the lives of individuals. To this day, the right to privacy is - by the way it is defined in every constitution and treaty in which it exists - balanced against the legitimate needs of governments.
Invasion of Privacy provides an authoritative analysis of one of the most revered rights of peoples and cultures around the world - privacy. It chronicles the most pressing privacy issues and dilemmas from around the world and provides readers with thought-provoking debate at all levels. |