A Note on Privacy and the Common Good.

Privacy, traditionally understood as a right applicable only to individuals, often loses in policymaking to "social" interests, such as national security, medical progress, or the freedom of the press. Recent work in the philosophy of privacy has therefore begun to emphasize the societal value of privacy, its contribution to the common good. However, to be secure privacy should be anchored in both the right and the good. Properly delimited, privacy is an absolute right of the individual. It also benefits society in several ways. While not a "public good" in the economists' sense, privacy is in several precise respects constitutive of the common good. As such, it is compatible not just with liberalism but with social democracy and democratic socialism. Moreover, the arrival of the "global information society," with its facilitation of openness and connectedness, offers a new avenue for congruence between privacy and community. The argument draws on the ideas of Green, Rawls, and Regan, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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