We are now closed for the Christmas and New Year period, returning on Monday 5th January 2026. Orders placed during this time will be processed upon our return on 5th January.
Privacy is one of the most contested concepts of our time. This book sets out a rigorous and comprehensive framework for understanding debates about privacy and our rights to it.
Much of the conflict around privacy comes from a failure to recognise divergent perspectives. Some people argue about human rights, some about social conventions, others about individual preferences and still others about information and data processing. As a result, 'privacy' has become the focus of competing definitions, leading some to denounce the 'disarray' in the field.
But as this book shows, disagreements about the role and value of privacy obscure a large amount of agreement on the topic. Privacy is not a technical term of law, cybersecurity or sociology, but a word in common use that adequately expresses a few simple and related ideas.
"An impressively thorough and systematic - but always accessible - analysis. O'Hara sorts and sifts the different claims for what is and what is not "privacy". O Privacy, what crimes are committed in thy name! But O'Hara! What fun you've had finding a way through the muddles and misunderstandings to establish a common language for discussing privacy. I wish I'd had access to Kieron O'Hara's excellent survey when I started out as UK Information Commissioner back in 2009. O'Hara's razor should help us to approach debates around public policy on their own merits, avoiding using "privacy" as a mere label either to support or oppose particular causes or proposals." - Christopher Graham, UK Information Commissioner, 2009-16
