ABSTRACT
Privacy is important in maintaining the stability of large, pluralistic, culturally diverse societies. One distinguishing feature of a liberal society is its toleration of people with lifestyles, cultural practices, and religions that diverge from those of the majority. When someone refers to privacy they may refer to a number of distinct interests. It seems appropriate to begin a discussion of privacy’s value by defining what privacy means. The reasons so far explored for why privacy should be valued focus on the value that privacy has to individuals: to their reputation, autonomy, well-being, property interests, relations of trust, and dignity. There is also a sense, which the author will discuss on intimacy and relational harms, in which reporting B.J.F.’s status as a rape victim affects her privacy by taking out of her control how she is presented to others.
