Discussions about privacy are intertwined with the use of technology. The publication that began the debate about privacy in the Western world was occasioned by the introduction of the newspaper printing press and photography. Justices Warren and Brandeis wrote their article on privacy in the Harvard Law Review (Warren and Brandeis 1890) partly in protest against the intrusive activities of the journalists of those days. They argued that there is a "right to be left alone" based on a principle of "inviolate personality." Since the publication of that article the debate about privacy has been fueled by claims for the right of individuals to determine the extent to which others have access to them (Westin 1967) and claims for the right of society to know about individuals.

The Nature of Privacy Claims

Inspired by subsequent developments in U.S. law, a distinction can be made between (1) constitutional privacy or decisional...