Question

 

• How do you define privacy?
• Do you believe privacy is a moral right? Why or why not?
• Are there any cases in which public health policy justifies the violation of the right to privacy?

Answer 1

Privacy is the right of individuals to be on their own, practice any belief, have freedom from any interference and have control over their personal information.

There are many discussions about privacy and its nature. There are differing views about privacy having a moral value or privacy being a moral right. In my view, privacy is a moral right, which needs to be protected by the society and the government. Privacy is directly linked to an individual’s identity, freedom and existence at large. Hence, it needs to be nurtured and protected. It needs to be understood as a right, then only individual’s identity, freedom is ensured and anarchy of any form can be avoided. However, granting the right to privacy by the authorities and the practice of this right by an individual should be based on logical and rationale basis.

If we take the case of public health policy of the government, there are instances where the violation of the right to privacy can be claimed. However, this shall be justified with proper reasoning. The violation shall be in a good faith and only if it is required for the society, at large. Few such examples are mentioned below:

a) Contact tracing of individuals sexually linked with an HIV/AIDS affected individual

b) Various methods of contact tracing of individuals in contact with COVID-19 affected individual

c) Convincing parents for necessary vaccination of their kids, which may be in non-conformance to their religious/personal beliefs