The Human Element is Inherent to Privacy

RSA Conference 2020’s theme centers on the “human element.” And privacy is highlighted even more in this year’s conference. But what hasn’t perhaps been explored sufficiently is how the human element is inherent to privacy.

Much has been written on this topic from the cybersecurity angle. In this post, we explore how the human element is inherent to privacy. In some ways, even moreso than it is in the security domain. At a basic level, privacy is a human right. It is concerned with people’s personal information and pertains to information relationships with people. Privacy values are derived from values that we have as collective societies of people. And most importantly, building and maintaining a culture of privacy begins and ends with each of us.

Privacy is a human right

In many parts of the wold, privacy is considered a human right. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly declares:

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

At a basic level, the human element is inherent to privacy because privacy is a human right.

Privacy is concerned with personal information

At the data level, privacy is specifically concerned with people’s personal information. Security, by contrast, has a boarder scope: trade secrets…