Taxonomy of privacy

James Grimmelmann is impressed with Daniel Solove latest law review article, A Taxonomy of Privacy. From Prof. Solove's conclusions:

"Too many courts and policymakers struggle with recognizing privacy problems. Privacy is certainly not an absolute value, but neither are the countervailing interests. Thus protecting privacy requires careful balancing. Unforunately, due to conceptual confusion, courts and legislatures are failing to recognize privacy problems, and if one is not recognized, no balancing takes place. This does not mean that privacy should win in the balance, but it should not simply be dismissed because it is ignored or misconstrued.

When translated into the legal system, privacy is a form of protection against certain harmful or problematic activities. The activities that affect privacy are not necessarily bad or worthy of sanction or prohibition. This fact is what makes addressing privacy issues so complex. In many instances, there is no evil wrongdoer, no villain whose activities have no value or make no social contribution. Instead many privacy problems arise as a result of efficacious activities, much like pollution is an outgrowth of inductrial activity."

The full 61 pages are not for the faint hearted but for those of you with an interest in privacy in our information age, this is better value for your efforts than most law review articles,