NEGATIVE-PRIVACY-GENERAL 105

PRIVACY IS EASILY BALANCED OUT BY OTHER CONCERNS

WE NEED TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN PRIVACY AND EFFICIENT INFORMATION USE

WILLIAM SAFIRE, The New York Times, May 1, 2000, SECTION: Section A; Page 23; TITLE: Essay; Consenting Adults // acs-EE2001

In defense of this weakness, Summers explains "We're trying to strike a balance between the efficient use of information and the need to protect privacy. Opinions have certainly changed over the past couple of years. In terms of what you want," Summers tells the privacy nut who has long been badgering him, "last year we were on our 15-yard line. Now we're within field-goal range."

THE VALUE CONFLICT IS BETWEEN PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 8, 1999, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. B6 TITLE: PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE // acs-EE2001

PRIVACY and the freedom of information are both important values in a democratic society that is built on individualism and citizen participation. But it doesn't take a crystal ball to figure out that these values are increasingly in conflict in the age of computers, the Internet and searchable databases.

MOST PRIVACY ISSUES ARE RESOLVED WITH A UTILITARIAN CALCULUS

David M. Studdert, Policy Analyst, RAND Institute for Civil Justice and RAND Health; "Direct Contracts, Data Sharing and Employee Risk Selection:" American Journal of Law & Medicine , 1999, 25 Am. J. L. and Med. 233, EE2001-JGM, P.254

Although arguments about the moral and ethical value of privacy may underscore its discrete importance, they are not always adept at weighing competing interests in disclosure. Thus, the privacy debate in legal and public health circles generally turns to utilitarian considerations in attempting to strike a balance between the individual's interest in privacy and communal benefits associated with the free flow of information.

SHOULD BEGIN A PRIVACY ANALYSIS BY WEIGHING THE COUNTERVAILING INTERESTS FIRST

Rod Dixon, an attorney at the U.S. Department of Education, "With Nowhere to Hide: Workers are Scrambling for Privacy in the Digital Age," Journal of Technology Law and Policy, Spring 1999, 4 J. Tech. L. & Pol'y 1, EE2001-JGM, P.15

Indeed, another view of the impact of information technology on the workplace reveals that the unmistakably intrusive nature of digital technology and its many uses for workplace surveillance warrant an examination of whether an employee's privacy interests are sufficiently protected by current law. n41 Not surprisingly, the formulation of the question may have a pivotal impact on the nature of the answer. In this respect, questions concerning the right of privacy often entail ready-made assumptions about the importance of privacy; unfortunately, these assumptions limit or confine the privacy interest at the start of the analysis. n42 To thwart the reliance on false or improper assumptions about an individual's interest in privacy in this case - the employee, once a privacy right is detected, privacy analysis should begin by setting forth the countervailing interests, which will be weighed against the interests of privacy, to establish the real impact of the countervailing interests. In framing the analysis in this manner, the outcome will not be limited to the rather predictably interdependent conclusion that the privacy interest should or should not be further restricted, but, instead, could include the determination that the privacy interest should be expanded.