Privacy: A Very Short Introduction

Privacy is a fundamental value that is under attack from several quarters. Electronic surveillance, biometrics, CCTV, ID cards, RFID codes, online security, the monitoring of employees, the uses and misuses of DNA, - to name but a few - all raise fundamental questions about our right to privacy.

This Very Short Introduction also analyzes the tension between free speech and privacy generated by intrusive journalism, photography, and gratuitous disclosures by the media of the private lives of celebrities. Professor Wacks concludes this stimulating introduction by considering the future of privacy in our society.

• Examines our need for privacy, why it is so highly valued, and what constitutes an invasion of privacy
• Considers the issues of privacy and security, privacy and the paparazzi, and the protection of personal data
• Places privacy in its wider social context with examples of its sociological and psychological impact