Privacy Protection as Social Policy

This chapter contends that, by failing to consider the social distribution of privacy, the conceptual apparatus used in conventional discourse and regulatory practice has produced a gap in both the understanding of privacy protection and in the ability of public policy to be applied effectively. Privacy protection can thus become part of social policy, at least within specific jurisdictions and perhaps more widely. The case of privacy&s;s distribution are less clear than the broader assessment of who benefits or loses from the &s;information revolution&s;. A better understanding of the distributions can underpin questions about whether inequalities can be justified and whether they can be altered by public policy and its implementation by public agencies, and at what jurisdictional level. The privacy issues typically addressed by laws and the activities of regulatory bodies are those which correspond to the major functional and organizational divisions of society and the economy, or to particular technologies like telecommunications.