Liz, I think you've hit upon the paradox of privacy-as-integral-to-personhood and the development of individual identity. Can individuality even be defined without comparing and contrasting one's actions and reactions with the actions and reactions of others? As much as we need space to develop and grow as autonomous individuals, we also need enough of a window into the minds of others to let us understand how we are different from them. And to make the stranger predictable enough to allow a highly interdependent society like ours to function.

I don't think the hard part is articulating reasons why a certain degree of privacy is essential; privacy is both intrinsically and instrumentally valuable. Rather, the hard part is the line drawing--what must be protected at all costs, and where can privacy be balanced against other interests?

-- AndreiVoinigescu - 10 May 2009