ABSTRACT
This chapter pursues both the issue of privacy and its related concept confidentiality. The social work profession has traditionally regarded client confidentiality as a robust principle which, while not absolute, should not be easily overridden. Indeed, for social work students, it is one of the first ethical principles to which they are introduced when they begin their studies. The chapter argues a number of things: that privacy is a neglected concept in human service work compared to confidentiality, even though codes of ethics may pay lip service to both principles; and that social workers sometimes confuse or conflate the notions of confidentiality and privacy. Privacy is a necessary condition for the development of self-determination. Self-determination involves reflection and reflection requires a degree of privacy. It is important to understand that confidentiality as the human service professions conceive it ought not to be taken simply as a matter of the right of a client.
