Women's Information Consultative Center

Devoted to their work, they never glorified war

From the report about two journalists
(British and Spanish),
who died in the war in Sierra Leone.

What is privacy?

Privacy is a fundamental human right enshrined in major international human rights agreements (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, etc.). The word privacy itself does not have an exact translation into Ukrainian. In some cases, it can mean Private life, in others - the right to private life; and in others - the right to protect the integrity of private life.

Types of privacy

information privacy, which includes regulation of the process of collecting and processing personal data, such as banking or medical information;
physical privacy, which refers to the protection of the human body from external interference, for example, medical experiments, research of internal organs;
privacy of communications, which means the security and inviolability of mail messages, telephone conversations and other types of communication;
territorial privacy, which means restrictions on intrusion into private housing; it also extends to workplaces and public places.
Definition of privacy
The right of a person to be protected from intrusion into his private life or actions, or the lives and actions of members of his family, by direct physical interference or publication of information (Calcutta Committee, UK).

Main models of privacy protection

model of a public official (commissioner, commissioner, ombudsman) who monitors compliance with the law and conducts relevant investigations. This model is adopted in Europe (in particular, in Ukraine - the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for human rights), Canada, Australia and some other countries;
a model of self-regulation, which involves the simultaneous introduction of certain rules by various structures responsible for law enforcement. The main disadvantages of this approach are compliance of actions with expected results and control over compliance with the adopted rules. This model operates in the USA.
Privacy violation technologies

identification systems, which include personal cards or dossiers used for national registration systems, and biometrics - the process of collecting, processing and storing data about a person's physical characteristics for the purpose of his identification;
monitoring of communications - in most countries, the possibility of monitoring telephone and other messages is provided, in particular by law enforcement agencies;
video surveillance - the use of television cameras has recently taken on a huge scale in many countries - they are used, in particular, to monitor public places, residential buildings, etc.;
workplace surveillance – workers in almost all countries are subject to detailed surveillance by managers who have the ability to listen in on phone conversations, read e-mails, etc. Legal protection in this case is very limited because supervision is often a condition of employment.
Based on a report by David Banisar, Privacy International.
David Banisar
Counterpart Creative Center Newsletter, Issue Month - June, Legal Dictionary