Information privacy refers to those aspects of privacy law that involves the right of individuals to determine when, how and to what extent they choose to share personal information about themselves with others.[1]
Information privacy is not an unlimited or absolute right. Individuals cannot suppress public records, nor control information about themselves that, by law, is used for a permissible purpose (e.g., criminal defendants cannot prevent courts from examining their prior criminal record before imposing sentence, and sellers of realty cannot prevent a title search of their property). Although individuals may refuse to disclose certain facts about themselves, such disclosure is often either required by law (e.g., tax information) or required if the data subject hopes to participate in society in a meaningful way (e.g., disclosing financial information to obtain a mortgage or releasing medical information to obtain insurance coverage). As a practical matter, individuals cannot participate fully in society without revealing vast amounts of personal data.
Although there is no universal agreement about what "privacy" is, it is of considerable and increasing concern to individuals. Thus, the critical question becomes: how do we balance the need to use information (by government, commerce, and individuals) with the natural desire of individuals to decide what information about themselves will be exposed to others? Having articulated principles for striking that balance, how do we implement them?
In the United States there is no comprehensive legal protection for personal information. The U.S. Constitution protects the privacy of personal information in a limited number of ways, and extends only to the protection of the individual against government intrusions. However, many of the threats to the privacy of personal information occur in the private sector. Any limitations placed on the data processing activities of the private sector will be found not in the Constitution but in federal or state law.
There is no comprehensive federal privacy statute that protects personal information held by both the public sector and the private sector. The Privacy Act of 1974 protects the privacy of personal information collected by the federal government. The private sector’s collection and disclosure of personal information has been addressed by Congress on a sector-by-sector basis and/or that focus on particular types of information. These federal laws include the:
- Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984
- CAN-SPAM Act
- Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
- Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988
- Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA)
- Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
- Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
- Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 (FCRA)
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLB)
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA)
- Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998
- Privacy Protection Act of 1980
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act
- Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004
- Video Privacy Protection Act
Other federal laws that impact privacy relate to criminal or national security issues, including the:
- Bank Secrecy Act of 1970
- Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA)
- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
- Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
- USA PATRIOT Act of 2001
References
- ↑ Alan Westin, Privacy and Freedom 7 (1976). See also Alan Westin, The Equifax Report on Consumers in the Information Age XVIII (1990).