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Privacy

Privacy is considered a cultural value, and legal scholars have grappled with the parameters setting the standard for privacy issues. However, in the context of human relationships, privacy is more dynamic and increasingly relevant as technological advances change the fabric of how people interact. In general, privacy in the United States is defined as information, territory, space, or possessions that people believe they have the right to own and over which they exercise control.

Broadly, privacy may be further conceptualized as instances when people restrict access to others and safeguard autonomy. However, within human relationships, privacy refers not only to restricting access, but also to conditions under which others are granted access to private information, space, and possessions. An easy way to conceptualize this process is to consider all that people hold private as being housed within a boundary. When wishing to grant access, individuals open that boundary allowing others admittance to space, private possessions, or private information. When individuals opt to retain privacy, they close boundaries and keep others out. This entry discusses the conditions of privacy, privacy management apparatus, privacy invasions, and current privacy trends.

State and Conditions of Privacy

Several conditions represent the state of retaining privacy. For example, people may seek solitude achieving freedom from observation by others. Alternatively, people may strive for a privacy that affords liberty to act in public without concern for being identified, thus achieving a state of anonymity. Finally, privacy is attained through limiting disclosure to others. In addition to conditions of privacy, there are also privacy functions that represent reasons for limiting privacy access. Thus, privacy grants personal sovereignty by avoiding the possibility of being dominated by others. Privacy allows an emotional release from role demands. Privacy provides opportunities for evaluation by temporary separation from human relationships allowing time to process information. Privacy additionally offers protected communication to share personal information with trusted others. Finally, privacy protects potential vulnerabilities from exposure of information that might compromise reputations of individuals. Thus, people limit access to privacy boundaries to achieve one or more of these goals.

Privacy Management Apparatus

Human relationships require both privacy and granting access to others. Individuals cannot sustain relationships if they do not allow others to become privy to their personal moments, information, or space. At the same time, people need to preserve autonomy through managing privacy. To have an optimal relationship with others, people require both privateness and publicness. Because these are concomitant needs, individuals develop strategies to manage them simultaneously. People control their privacy boundaries by regulating access through the development of privacy rules. People develop those rules by using decision criteria, such as motivations for access, cultural expectations, personality needs, and risk-benefit assessments that impact levels of access.

Privacy Invasion, Violations, and Dilemmas

When others encroach on an individual's space, misuse information, or treat possessions in unacceptable ways, that person feels violated. In U.S. society, some violations are considered to be legal matters. For example, although people typically trust medical professionals, with new health care technologies such as electronic medical records, patients have voiced uncertainties about the likelihood their privacy is protected throughout the health care system. Laws such as the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 were crafted to protect patient privacy. Beyond legalities, people have emotional reactions to invasions of privacy because the act of invasion compromises an individual's sense of control.

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