COMPETITION 54

COMMUNITARIANISM DOES NOT COMMIT ITSELF TO PRIVACY AS THE AFFIRMATIVE PLAN DOES

COMMUNITARIANISM REJECTS THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY

John Schwartz, The Washington Post, March 29, 1999, SECTION: FINANCIAL; Pg. F21; TITLE: A Middle Ground in the Privacy War? Web // acs-EE2001

[Etzioni] rethinking of privacy leads him to reject the notions that led to a constitutional right of privacy, best expressed in the landmark 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut.

In that case, Justice William O. Douglas found a right of privacy in the "penumbra," or shadow border, of rights granted by other constitutional amendments -- such as freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, freedom from having troops billeted in our homes.

Etzioni scoffs at this "stretched interpretation of a curious amalgam of sundry pieces of various constitutional rights," and says we need only look to the simpler balancing act we've developed in Fourth Amendment cases governing search and seizure, which give us privacy protection by requiring proper warrants before government can tap a phone or search a home.

THE BEST WAY TO ANALYZE PRIVACY IS TO RETURN TO A FUNDAMENTAL CONSIDERATION OF THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF INDIVIDUALS TO EACH OTHER AND THE STATE

Richard A. Epstein National Review, September 27, 1999, TITLE: Privacy, Please; Thinking about a troublesome concept. // acs-VT2001

A neat resolution of the privacy issue will remain elusive. It is possible, however, to chart a rough path through the maze-but only by resisting the temptation to wallow in the novelty of recent manifestations of the privacy debate. What we must do is return to the fundamental principles that determine the rights and duties of individuals to each other and to the state.

PRIVACY CONFLICTS WITH SOCIETAL VALUES

Fred H. Cate, Brookings Institution, 1997; PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE, EE2001-mfp p. 10 2

An important part of that balance is recognizing that protecting privacy imposes real costs. it facilitates the dissemination of false and misleading information, increases the cost of providing products and services, and interferes with meaningful evaluation of students and employees. Privacy conflicts with other important values within the society, such as society's interest in free expression, preventing and punishing crime, protection of private property, and the efficient operation of government. Privacy even conflicts with what may seem to be more mundane interests such as the desire for instant credit, better targeted mass mailings, lower insurance rates, faster service when ordering merchandise by telephone, qualified employees, or special recognition for frequent travelers. All of these and countless other benefits come at the expense of some privacy. The same features of information technologies and markets that raise the stakes of not protecting personal privacy, raise the risks of overprotecting it.