Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The logic of privacy

The Economist's article, "The logic of privacy" discusses the work of John Mitchell, Adam Barth and Anupam Datta, where they are using a philosophical theory called contextual integrity to help explain when individuals feel uncomfortable with their privacy. Contextual integrity is a theory developed by Helen Nissenbaum of New York University. The article states:

"This theory acknowledges that people do not require complete privacy. They will happily share information with others as long as certain social norms are met."