What is Privacy?
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The state of being apart from other people or concealed from their view; solitude; seclusion
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Example: Please leave the room and give me some privacy.
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The state of being free from unwanted or undue intrusion or disturbance in one's private life or affairs; freedom to be let alone. See also invasion of privacy.
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Examples: Tourists must respect the tribe’s privacy. Those who wish to smoke can do so in the privacy of their own homes.
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Freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, secret surveillance, or unauthorized disclosure of one’s personal data or information, as by a government, corporation, or individual
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Examples: Ordinary citizens have a qualified right to privacy. There is so much information about us online that personal privacy may be a thing of the past.
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Privacy at Northeastern University
Northeastern University Library Privacy Policy
The Northeastern University Library is committed to protecting the privacy of the Library’s users in accordance with the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics, point III:
“We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought, received and resources consulted, borrowed, or transmitted.”
- Privacy informationNortheastern University: How your personal data from visiting our website, apps, and web services is collected, used, and shared
Resources
Intellectual Privacy: rethinking civil liberties in the digital age by
ISBN: 9780199946150Publication Date: 2014-01-01Most people believe that the right to privacy is inherently at odds with the right to free speech. Courts all over the world have struggled with how to reconcile the problems of media gossip with our commitment to free and open public debate for over a century. The rise of the Internet has made this problem more urgent. We live in an age of corporate and government surveillance of our lives. And our free speech culture has created an anything-goes environment on the web, where offensive and hurtful speech about others is rife.How should we think about the problems of privacy and free speech? In Intellectual Privacy, Neil Richards offers a different solution, one that ensures that our ideas and values keep pace with our technologies. Because of the importance of free speech to free and open societies, he argues that when privacy and free speech truly conflict, free speech should almost always win. Only when disclosures of truly horrible information are made (such as sex tapes) should privacy be able to trump our commitment to free expression. But in sharp contrast to conventional wisdom, Richards argues that speech and privacy are only rarely in conflict. America's obsession with celebrity culture has blinded us to more important aspects of how privacy and speech fit together. Celebrity gossip might be a price we pay for a free press, but the privacy of ordinary people need not be. True invasions of privacy like peeping toms or electronic surveillance will rarely merit protection as free speech. And critically, Richards shows how most of the law we enact to protect online privacy pose no serious burden to public debate, and how protecting the privacy of our data is not censorship.More fundamentally, Richards shows how privacy and free speech are often essential to each other. He explains the importance of 'intellectual privacy,' protection from surveillance or interference when we are engaged in the processes of generating ideas - thinking, reading, and speaking with confidantes before our ideas are ready for public consumption. In our digital age, in which we increasingly communicate, read, and think with the help of technologies that track us, increased protection for intellectual privacy has become an imperative. What we must do, then, is to worry less about barring tabloid gossip, and worry much more about corporate and government surveillance into the minds, conversations, reading habits, and political beliefs of ordinary people.A timely and provocative book on a subject that affects us all, Intellectual Privacy will radically reshape the debate about privacy and free speech in our digital age.Privacy As Trust by
ISBN: 9781316636947Publication Date: 2018-03-29It seems like there is no such thing as privacy anymore. But the truth is that privacy is in danger only because we think about it in narrow, limited, and outdated ways. In this transformative work, Ari Ezra Waldman, leveraging the notion that we share information with others in contexts of trust, offers a roadmap for data privacy that will better protect our information in a digitized world. With case studies involving websites, online harassment, intellectual property, and social robots, Waldman shows how 'privacy as trust' can be applied in the most challenging real-world contexts to make privacy work for all of us. This book should be read by anyone concerned with reshaping the theory and practice of privacy in the modern world.Privacy in the Age of Innovation by
ISBN: 9798868804601Publication Date: 2024-07-18This book will help you comprehend the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on information security, data privacy, and data security. The book starts by explaining the basics and setting the goals for a complete understanding of how AI, Information Security, Data Privacy, and Data Security all connect. Then, it gives you important information about the basics of AI, machine learning, and deep learning in simple terms. It also talks about the ethics of using AI in privacy and security, making sure you understand the power and responsibility that come with AI. Next, it takes you through the complex world of information security and data privacy. It covers everything from the current state of security to how AI can detect threats and protect privacy. Additionally, it delves into ethical considerations to ensure the responsible use of AI in managing data privacy. Later chapters discuss strategies and future trends in using AI for data security, finding the right balance between security and privacy, and giving useful advice for organizations. In the end, this book examines the current landscape and foresees the future, underscoring the vital importance of maintaining a balance between innovation and privacy in AI-powered security. What you will learn: How AI is being used to detect and prevent cyberattacks in real-time What are the AI-powered techniques for anonymizing and de-identifying data, What are the latest advancements in AI-powered privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) How to find the right balance between security and privacy Who this book is for: Information security professionals, data scientists, and software developers seeking to gain an understanding of the latest trends and techniques in AI for information securityPrivacy in the Digital Age [2 Volumes] by
ISBN: 9781440829710Publication Date: 2015-06-19A collection of expert essays examines the privacy rights that have been lost in the post-9/11 era--giving students and others the knowledge they need to take back their constitutional protections.This timely two-volume collection shares information every citizen should have, tackling the erosion of privacy rights engendered by the ability of digital technology to intercept, mine, and store personal data, most often without the knowledge of those being monitored. Examining its subject through the lens of Fourth Amendment rights, the work focuses on technological advances that now gather personal data on an unprecedented scale, whether by monitoring social media, tracking cell phones, or using thermal imaging to watch people's movement. It also examines the possible impact of the widespread gathering of such data by law enforcement and security agencies and by private corporations such as Google.Organized by hot-button topics confronting U.S. citizens in the post-9/11 era, the work reviews the original intent of the Fourth Amendment and then traces the development and erosion of interpretations of that amendment in the 21st century. Topical essays offer a comprehensive treatment and understanding of current Fourth Amendment issues, including those that have been brought before the courts and those relative to the continuing governmental and societal emphasis on security and public safety since the Columbine shootings in 1999 and the events of September 11, 2001.The Right to Oblivion by
ISBN: 9780674298262Publication Date: 2024-10-08A visionary reexamination of the value of privacy in today's hypermediated world--not just as a political right but as the key to a life worth living. The parts of our lives that are not being surveilled and turned into data diminish each day. We are able to configure privacy settings on our devices and social media platforms, but we know our efforts pale in comparison to the scale of surveillance capitalism and algorithmic manipulation. In our hyperconnected era, many have begun to wonder whether it is still possible to live a private life, or whether it is no longer worth fighting for. The Right to Oblivion argues incisively and persuasively that we still can and should strive for privacy, though for different reasons than we might think. Recent years have seen heated debate in the realm of law and technology about why privacy matters, often focusing on how personal data breaches amount to violations of individual freedom. Yet as Lowry Pressly shows, the very terms of this debate have undermined our understanding of privacy's real value. In a novel philosophical account, Pressly insists that privacy isn't simply a right to be protected but a tool for making life meaningful. Privacy deepens our relationships with others as well as ourselves, reinforcing our capacities for agency, trust, play, self-discovery, and growth. Without privacy, the world would grow shallow, lonely, and inhospitable. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Hannah Arendt, Jorge Luis Borges, and a range of contemporary artists, Pressly shows why we all need a refuge from the world: not a place to hide, but a psychic space beyond the confines of a digital world in which the individual is treated as mere data.States of Surveillance: Ethnographies of New Technologies in Policing and Justice by
ISBN: 1003412904Recent discussions on big data surveillance and artificial intelligence in governance have opened up an opportunity to think about the role of technology in the production of the knowledge states use to govern. The contributions in this volume examine the socio-technical assemblages that underpin the surveillance carried out by criminal justice institutions – particularly the digital tools that form the engine room of modern state bureaucracies. Drawing on ethnographic research in contexts from across the globe, the contributions to this volume engage with technology’s promises of transformation, scrutinise established ways of thinking that becomeembedded through technologies, critically consider the dynamics that shape the political economy driving the expansion of security technologies, and examine how those at the margins navigate experiences of surveillance. The book is intended for an interdisciplinary academic audience interested in ethnographic approaches to the study of surveillance technologies in policing and justice. Concrete case studies provide students, practitioners, and activists from a broad range of backgrounds with nuanced entry points to the debate.Why Privacy Matters by
ISBN: 9780190939045Publication Date: 2021-12-01A much-needed corrective on what privacy is, why it matters, and how we can protect in an age when so many believe that the concept is dead.Everywhere we look, companies and governments are spying on us - seeking information about us and everyone we know. Ad networks monitor our web-surfing to send us "more relevant" ads. The NSA screens our communications for signs of radicalism. Schools track students' emails to stop school shootings. Cameras guard every street corner and traffic light, and drones fly in our skies. Databases of human information are assembled for purposes of "training" artificial intelligence programs designed to predict everything from traffic patterns to the location of undocumented migrants. We're even tracking ourselves, using personal electronics like Apple watches, Fitbits, and other gadgets that have made the "quantified self" a realistic possibility. As Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg once put it, "the Age of Privacy is over." But Zuckerberg and others who say "privacy is dead" are wrong. In Why Privacy Matters, Neil Richards explains that privacy isn't dead, but rather up for grabs.Richards shows how the fight for privacy is a fight for power that will determine what our future will look like, and whether it will remain fair and free. If we want to build a digital society that is consistent with our hard-won commitments to political freedom, individuality, and human flourishing, then we must make a meaningful commitment to privacy. Privacy matters because good privacy rules can promote the essential human values of identity, power, freedom, and trust. If we want to preserve our commitments to these precious yet fragile values, we will need privacy rules. Richards explains why privacy remains so important and offers strategies that can help us protect it from the forces that are working to undermine it. Pithy and forceful, this is essential reading for anyone interested in a topic that sits at the center of so many current problems.Private Spaces in Public Places by
ISBN: 9781421450001Publication Date: 2024-07-16A unique history of how private spaces in public--such as public restrooms and dressing rooms--developed in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Before the late nineteenth century, Americans bathed, dressed, undressed, and relieved themselves in the privacy of their own homes. Yet from 1880 to 1930, the social forces of urbanization, industrialization, and immigration combined to increasingly lure Americans out of the private realm and into the public sphere. In Private Spaces in Public Places, Laura W. Rouleau offers a distinctive look at the history of how new private spaces were built into the broader world. In deciding what physical form these spaces would take, the very meaning of privacy manifested through the physical and social construction of these newly emerging spaces. Rouleau combines social history with a material culture-based analysis to examine the growing importance and physical development of spaces such as department store dressing rooms, school locker rooms, and public bathrooms that emerged during this era. Rouleau argues that privacy was physically and socially constructed, as these sites were designed to segregate users by gender, class, race, and age. Creators of these spaces sought to impose their middle-class values regarding privacy through the physical regulation of users' bodies. Nonetheless, the creators' intentions did not always align with the lived reality of these spaces. By interrogating how people navigated these private spaces, this study offers an understanding of the actual historical experience of privacy at the turn of the twentieth century.
Controlling Knowledge by
ISBN: 9781926836270Publication Date: 2011-08-01In Controlling Knowledge, author Lorna Stefanick offers a thought-provoking and user-friendly overview of the regulatory regime that currently governs freedom of information and the protection of privacy in Canada.Aiming to clarify rather than mystify, Stefanick outlines the history and application of FOIP legislation, with special focus on how these laws affect the individual.Dictionary of Privacy, Data Protection and Information Security by
ISBN: 1035300923Publication Date: 2024This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. The Dictionary of Privacy, Data Protection and Information Security explains the complex technical terms, legal concepts, privacy management techniques, conceptual matters and vocabulary that inform public debate about privacy.Usable Privacy and Security in Online Public Services by
ISBN: 9783031433825Publication Date: 2023-11-04This practice-oriented book is a unique guide to the implementation of usable, privacy-compliant and secure online services in the area of e-government. Beginning with a clarification of basic concepts of usability, data privacy, and cybersecurity, the book provides lucid explanations of different methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods) that can be applied in the practice of designing, developing, and evaluating online public services in light of both usability criteria and data privacy and IT security compliance. A number of examples and exercises are included as well as awareness-raising measures that can serve as orientation both for practitioners and for teaching purposes. There is also a concise glossary of terms along with recommendations for further reading. This book provides comprehensive coverage of usability, data privacy and information security topics. At the time of going to press, it is also up to date with respect to the implementation of the EU Single Digital Gateway regulation. It is therefore aimed at anyone interested in understanding the principles of usable privacy and information security and in ways of contributing to the design, development, and evaluation of online public services that satisfy the needs of the public. The book's audience thus includes not only students in the areas of e-government or public administration but also professionals developing online services or e-government applications.Face de-identification : safeguarding identities in the digital era by
ISBN: 3031582225Publication Date: 2024This book provides state-of-the-art Face De-Identification techniques and privacy protection methods, while highlighting the challenges faced in safeguarding personal information. It presents three innovative image privacy protection approaches, including differential private k-anonymity, identity differential privacy guarantee and personalized and invertible Face De-Identification. In addition, the authors propose a novel architecture for reversible Face Video De-Identification, which utilizes deep motion flow to ensure seamless privacy protection across video frames. This book is a compelling exploration of the rapidly evolving field of Face De-Identification and privacy protection in the age of advanced AI-based face recognition technology and pervasive surveillance. This insightful book embarks readers on a journey through the intricate landscape of facial recognition, artificial intelligence, social network and the challenges posed by the digital footprint left behind by individuals in their daily lives. The authors also explore emerging trends in privacy protection and discuss future research directions. Researchers working in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data privacy and cybersecurity as well as advanced-level students majoring in computers science will find this book useful as reference or secondary text. Professionals working in the fields of biometrics, data security, software development and facial recognition technology as well as policymakers and government officials will also want to purchase this book. .
- Journal of Intellectual Freedom & PrivacyThe Journal of Intellectual Freedom & Privacy (JIFP), a double-blind peer reviewed publication, is topically focused on practical, moral, ethical, philosophical, and theoretical issues of intellectual freedom and informational privacy within the United States and globally.
The research areas covered in JIFP include censorship, freedom of expression, and data collection and dissemination, all understood broadly. The Journal also welcomes contributions that describe the justifications of and descriptive stories behind the development of information policy, as well as critical perspectives on existing information policies. - Journal of Privacy and ConfidentialityThe Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality is an open-access multi-disciplinary journal whose purpose is to facilitate the coalescence of research methodologies and activities in the areas of privacy, confidentiality, and disclosure limitation. The JPC seeks to publish a wide range of research and review papers, not only from academia, but also from government (especially official statistical agencies) and industry, and to serve as a forum for exchange of views, discussion, and news.
- CT&T: Continental Thought and Theory: A Journal of Intellectual FreedomContinental theory has a chequered history in academia. Recently, however, as scholars of the new materialism refocus on tensions between modernist and post modernist concepts and questions, Continental theory has had a resurgence. The intellectual world today is facing social and ontological problems and issues—including increasingly, the function of the academy—which strongly suggest that new kinds of questions, critiques, debates and responses are crucial to the relevance and interrogation of Continental theory in the 21st century.
Continental Thought and Theory emerges from the Canterbury School of Continental Philosophy (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) and responds to this need for international critical engagement. The journal is open access and combine special issues with calls for papers. - European Journal of Privacy Law & TechnologiesThe European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies (EJPLT) is a European Law Scientific Journal, generally focused on the relationship between law and new technologies and specifically on that one between privacy law and technology's development.
- International Journal of Information Security and Privacy (IJISP)As information technology and the Internet become more and more ubiquitous and pervasive in our daily lives, there is an essential need for a more thorough understanding of information security and privacy issues and concerns. The International Journal of Information Security and Privacy (IJISP) creates and fosters a forum where research in the theory and practice of information security and privacy is advanced. IJISP publishes high quality papers dealing with a wide range of issues, ranging from technical, legal, regulatory, organizational, managerial, cultural, ethical and human aspects of information security and privacy, through a balanced mix of theoretical and empirical research articles, case studies, book reviews, tutorials, and editorials.
This journal encourages submission of manuscripts that present research frameworks, methods, methodologies, theory development and validation, case studies, simulation results and analysis, technological architectures, infrastructure issues in design, and implementation and maintenance of secure and privacy preserving initiatives. - Security & PrivacySecurity and Privacy is an international journal publishing original research and review papers on all areas of security and privacy including Security in Business, Healthcare and Society, Information Security, Communication Security, and Privacy. Other related areas such as Biometric--based Security, Cryptography systems, Embedded Security, Data Analytics for Security and Privacy, Integrated Security Design Schemes, Surveillance, Critical Infrastructures and Key Resources will also be considered.
Responding to the highly applied and commercial importance of Security and Privacy R&D, submissions of applied-oriented papers reporting on case studies, test beds, review and tutorial articles and simulation-based studies are encouraged as well as theoretical-based articles.
Groups and Tools that Address Privacy
- DuckDuckGoSince its start in 2008, DuckDuckGo offers Internet searchers a secure and more private alternative to the likes of Google. Built on the principle of never storing or tracking any user information, DuckDuckGo only shows ads that are relevant to the user’s current website instead of the user’s past search histories and activity. At the core, DuckDuckGo offers users search results that are not manipulated or personalized.
- Electronic Frontier FoundationEstablished in 1990, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading donor-funded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that champions for civil rights and liberties within the digital space. EEF continues to promote freedom of speech on the Internet while confronting breaches and illegal surveillance of users’ privacy and data on a federal level. EEF coordinates efforts to push freedom enhancing movements and technologies, and publish articles that update readers on the latest news surrounding Internet privacy.
- Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)Located in Washington D.C., EPIC is a research center working for the interest of the public by protecting the privacy and freedom of digital users in an information age. By having a board filled with experts in law, public policy, and technology, EPIC works hard to uncover immoral data collection in the legal world.
- Foundation for Technology and Privacy OutreachOriginally formed by Privacy Vaults Online, Foundation for Technology and Privacy Outreach is another organization that raises awareness on online privacy issues with a focus on youth. The foundation aims to start early by educating children on safe methods of using the Internet – aiming to raise a new generation of not just tech-savvy, but tech safe individuals.
- Privacy Rights ClearinghousePrivacy Rights Clearinghouse is a nonprofit organization that has solely focused on educating users on consumer privacy rights. They educate the public on dealing with data breaches and identity theft all the way to spam emails. Each guide takes you to an extensive list of articles that outline the necessary steps to prevent such measures.
- ProtonProton is a secure, privacy-focused company based in Switzerland that offers a secure ecosystem consisting of various services, such as: mail, calendar, drive, and VPN. Proton utilizes end-to-end encryption to ensure complete security of all emails sent via Proton Mail. Furthermore, the company has recently launched proton.me, which is Proton’s own email domain.