wildercb/PrivacyTextBooks1.2 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Beyond false light, defamation, and other reputational torts, a
number of privacy statutes ensure against false information in record
systems. In the United States, the Privacy Act, for example, enables a
person to access and correct her records maintained by government
agencies. Likewise, the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides recourse
for a person who wants to correct her credit records, and the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act enables students to review and en
sure the accuracy of their school records.310 Additionally, long
standing privacy principles, such as the Fair Information Practices and
the O E C D Privacy Guidelines, contain provisions for ensuring the
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accuracy of records. T he European Union Data Protection Directive
contains a similar provision.311
W hy are these harms of inaccuracy understood as privacy injuries?
W liy does the law protect against these harms? W hy should people
have a right to be judged accurately?
I refer to these harms as “distortion.” Distortion is the manipulation
of die way a person is perceived and judged by others. It involves the
victim being inaccurately characterized. I include distortion in the tax
onomy of privacy because of its significant similarity to other privacy
disruptions. Distortion, like disclosure, involves the spreading of infor
mation that affects the way society views a person. Both distortion and
disclosure can result in embarrassment, humiliation, stigma, and repu
tational harm. They both involve the ability to control information
about oneself and to have some limited dominion over the way one is
viewed by society. Distortion differs from disclosure, however, because
with distortion, the information revealed is false and misleading.
Throughout most of Western history, one’s reputation and character
have been viewed as indispensable to self-identity and the ability to en
gage in public life. For centuries, the loss of social regard has had dele
terious effects on one’s wealth, prosperity, and employment.512 Social
regard, acceptance, and honor are extremely valuable, and they have
power over us because they are integral to how we relate to others.
Robert Post observes that defamation law also exists for “the protection
of an individual’s interest in dignity, which is to say his interest in being
included within the forms of social respect; and the enforcement of so
ciety’s interest in its rules of civility, which is to say its interest in
defining and maintaining the contours of its own social constitution.”315
Reputation is not merely an individual creation. Although it is true
that people work very hard to build their reputations, one’s reputation
is the product of other people’s judgments. Reputation is a currency
through which we interact with each other. Protection against distor
tion structures our interactions because it protects this currency. Dis
tortion not only affects the aggrieved individual but also the society
that judges that individual. It interferes with our relationships to that
individual, and it inhibits our ability to assess the character of those we
deal with. We are thus deceived in our relationships with others; these
relationships are tainted by false information that prevents us from
making sound and fair judgments. Distortion’s direct impact is felt by
A Taxonomy o f Privacy
161
the aggrieved individual, but it also affects society. We want to avoid
arbitrary and undeserved disruption of social relations.
T he enigmatic and devious Iago’s comments in William Shake
speare’s Othello capture the importance of reputation:
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls;
W ho steals my purse steals trash: ’tis something, nothing;
Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.514
Using the power of reputation, Iago orchestrates a series of distortions
to make Othello believe that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair
with his lieutenant, Cassio. These distortions induce a murderous rage
in Othello, during which he suffocates his wife. Othello illustrates the
profound destructiveness of distortion, which tears apart relationships,
dissolves trust, and instigates violence.
Invasion
T he final grouping of privacy harms I label “invasion.” Invasions differ
from the problems of information collection, processing, and dissemi
nation because they do not always involve information. I discuss two
types of invasion: (1) intrusion and (2) decisional interference.
Intrusion
The soul selects her own society
Then shuts the door;
On her divine majority
Obtrude no more
—Emily Dickinson (1890)ixs
For hundreds of years, the law has strongly guarded the privacy of
the home.316 According to William Blackstone, “[T]he law . . . has so
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particular and tender a regard to the immunity of a man’s house, that it
stiles it his castle.”*1. The law protects the home from trespass by
others, as well as from nuisances.318 Thomas Cooley observed in his fa

Beyond false light, defamation, and other reputational torts, a

number of privacy statutes ensure against false information in record

systems. In the United States, the Privacy Act, for example, enables a

person to access and correct her records maintained by government

agencies. Likewise, the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides recourse

for a person who wants to correct her credit records, and the Family

Educational Rights and Privacy Act enables students to review and en

sure the accuracy of their school records.310 Additionally, long

standing privacy principles, such as the Fair Information Practices and

the O E C D Privacy Guidelines, contain provisions for ensuring the

160

A T a

x

o

n

o

m

y o f P

r i v a c y

accuracy of records. T he European Union Data Protection Directive

contains a similar provision.311

W hy are these harms of inaccuracy understood as privacy injuries?

W liy does the law protect against these harms? W hy should people

have a right to be judged accurately?

I refer to these harms as “distortion.” Distortion is the manipulation

of die way a person is perceived and judged by others. It involves the

victim being inaccurately characterized. I include distortion in the tax

onomy of privacy because of its significant similarity to other privacy

disruptions. Distortion, like disclosure, involves the spreading of infor

mation that affects the way society views a person. Both distortion and

disclosure can result in embarrassment, humiliation, stigma, and repu

tational harm. They both involve the ability to control information

about oneself and to have some limited dominion over the way one is

viewed by society. Distortion differs from disclosure, however, because

with distortion, the information revealed is false and misleading.

Throughout most of Western history, one’s reputation and character

have been viewed as indispensable to self-identity and the ability to en

gage in public life. For centuries, the loss of social regard has had dele

terious effects on one’s wealth, prosperity, and employment.512 Social

regard, acceptance, and honor are extremely valuable, and they have

power over us because they are integral to how we relate to others.

Robert Post observes that defamation law also exists for “the protection

of an individual’s interest in dignity, which is to say his interest in being

included within the forms of social respect; and the enforcement of so

ciety’s interest in its rules of civility, which is to say its interest in

defining and maintaining the contours of its own social constitution.”315

Reputation is not merely an individual creation. Although it is true

that people work very hard to build their reputations, one’s reputation

is the product of other people’s judgments. Reputation is a currency

through which we interact with each other. Protection against distor

tion structures our interactions because it protects this currency. Dis

tortion not only affects the aggrieved individual but also the society

that judges that individual. It interferes with our relationships to that

individual, and it inhibits our ability to assess the character of those we

deal with. We are thus deceived in our relationships with others; these

relationships are tainted by false information that prevents us from

making sound and fair judgments. Distortion’s direct impact is felt by

A Taxonomy o f Privacy

161

the aggrieved individual, but it also affects society. We want to avoid

arbitrary and undeserved disruption of social relations.

T he enigmatic and devious Iago’s comments in William Shake

speare’s Othello capture the importance of reputation:

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls;

W ho steals my purse steals trash: ’tis something, nothing;

Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands.

But he that filches from me my good name

Robs me of that which not enriches him

And makes me poor indeed.514

Using the power of reputation, Iago orchestrates a series of distortions

to make Othello believe that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair

with his lieutenant, Cassio. These distortions induce a murderous rage

in Othello, during which he suffocates his wife. Othello illustrates the

profound destructiveness of distortion, which tears apart relationships,

dissolves trust, and instigates violence.

Invasion

T he final grouping of privacy harms I label “invasion.” Invasions differ

from the problems of information collection, processing, and dissemi

nation because they do not always involve information. I discuss two

types of invasion: (1) intrusion and (2) decisional interference.

Intrusion

The soul selects her own society

Then shuts the door;

On her divine majority

Obtrude no more

—Emily Dickinson (1890)ixs

For hundreds of years, the law has strongly guarded the privacy of

the home.316 According to William Blackstone, “[T]he law . . . has so

162

A T a

x

o

n

o

m y o f P

r i v a c y

particular and tender a regard to the immunity of a man’s house, that it

stiles it his castle.”*1. The law protects the home from trespass by

others, as well as from nuisances.318 Thomas Cooley observed in his fa