Ethics of Privacy: Balancing Accountability and Personal Protection

Running head: ETHICS OF PRIVACY
ETHICS OF PRIVACY
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1ETHICS OF PRIVACY
People are always considerate about privacy and when there is an option between privacy
and accountability. People always demand and need privacy for themselves (Benn, 2017). The
principle of balance needs to be abided by the societal values in order to maintain harmony and
stability of function. Protecting the privacy of personal information is a serious matter of concern
for various organisations. Inability to control such actions will lead to unavoidable and unwanted
consequences. Therefore, it comes under one of the basic ethics to prioritise confidentiality and
privacy regarding personal information. The paper aims to discuss the ethics of privacy
considering the example of American losing the right to privacy in the workplace or to the
government. The paper will aim to understand the ethics of privacy and explain the ways its
importance in the contemporary era in ensuring people their right to privacy.
Privacy, security and trust are intersecting and inter-related concepts as laws and ethics.
The reliance on privacy protection and security provisions are on trust and belief. According to
researches, more than 70 per cent of consumers are concerned regarding their personal
information disclosure (Klitou, 2014). There is always information that is provided by people to
different organisations for various purpose. However, this information is provided willingly
while there is information that specific organisations possess that are not shared willingly. Here
is the question about the right to privacy. Due to identity theft, people are constantly feeling an
insecure and at risk of losing their identity.
Rights to privacy is a concept in United States constitutional law and the law of torts. The
constitution of the United States does not protect privacy explicitly however the right is regarded
to be created during the First, Fourth and fifth amendments by certain provisions (Freund, 2017).
According to the Fourth amendments, any unreasonable searches are not allowed to be
performed. According to the First and Fifth include privacy protection that involves prioritizing

2ETHICS OF PRIVACY
individual’s freedom to be autonomous and not what government may do (Marks et al. 2015). It
was only the protection against tangible intrusions that may result from measurable injury
initially the aim of the right to protection. However, after the publication of an influential article
during 1890 the federal courts began to explore various constitutional principles. Today, it is
regarded the principles are regarded as constituents elements of a constitutional right to privacy.
It is one of the rights that comes into existence after several arguments and discussion. It is
important to understand that the term privacy is used to mean ‘right to be left alone’. It is the
right of a person to be free from any kind of unwarranted or unwanted publicity. This a right that
let people live without any unwarranted interference by the public in matters that are of no
concern to the public.
The specific issues that interests
With the above discussion, it can be perceived the concept of the right to privacy.
However, the importance of the right to privacy is still a question of concern in several nations.
The significance of privacy is not realised until it is faced with critical situations. Any person
who has been a victim of identity theft will certainly know the value of privacy. Lost or theft of
identity may cost years or months of dealing with harassment leading to various consequences.
Police, debt collectors, credit bureaus and government agencies. The sever situation of lost
identity may become a victim of stalking and harassment, and there may not be any place that
can be considered safe for them. This is a common and unavoidable situation, where it has
become hard not to leave electronic footprints. Any web-savvy has the possibility of finding the
source and use it in own personal way.
Often lost privacy also means that personal information is being used by marketers. The
personal information is collected, analysed and shared by the employers, marketers, insurance