ABSTRACT
I want to introduce you to a person we shall call Prudence. In most re spects Prudence is a very ordinary person; she has always been careful not to do anything that might attract public attention. However, Prudence goes to extraordinary lengths to protect her privacy. Living within sight of an apartment block, she keeps her curtains drawn and her shutters closed both day and night.2 She refuses to chat with friends over the telephone,3 much less in cafés or restaurants,4 in case someone is listening in. She conscientiously puts the contents of her waste paper basket through a shredder before disposal.5 She develops all her photo graphs herself, to keep them from the prying eyes of people who operate developing machines.6 She never uses public restrooms, lest she be spied upon by security staff.7 If she ever ventures out on a date, she behaves
with great circumspection, conscious that anything she does may be per manently recorded and exhibited to the nation.8 She never wears dresses out in public, in case someone aims a camera up her skirts.9 She avoids shops and buys all personal items, such as lingerie and pharmaceuticals, by mail order in unmarked packaging, using a pseudonym and a post office box.10 She would certainly never be seen attending counselling premises,11 specialist health clinics,12 or controversial meetings.13
