The concept of private life , implying that of “respect of the private life”, unknown factor of the Anciens and ignored with the Moyen-âge is a category of thought modern, which accompanies the invention by the Modernité Politique. They are there categories Politique and Juridique, therefore, which is relatively recent in the history of humanity. These notions come from the existence of the modern State as from the moment when this one, to define space of freedom left in the individual, implies the distinction between State and civil society. That is to say distinction between public space and private space, and still between public life private life. It supposes rights granted to the individuals, who are expressed in the Universal declaration of the human rights of 1948, and, for the Europe, by the European Convention which takes again the great principles of them.

This concept can be summarized by the sentence of Soljenitsyne “our freedom is built on what others are unaware of of our existences. ”

The concept of private life

A modern concept

The concept is initially and mainly made up within the framework of the Anglo-Saxon liberal tradition, itself initially born with the concept of Habeas corpus, at the time where Europe is torn by the wars known as of religion. Then it will give place to theorization around the central concept of tolerance whose theory is initially the fact of Locke, author of famous the Essai on the tolerance , (1677) as well as Lettre on the tolerance (1686), and of the Traité civil government (1690) supporting that since our opinions or our manners of living do not carry not reached to the safeguarding of the government, they are entitled to the tolerance. The work of Locke is the work of reference, for the Anglo-Saxon tradition, which will be taken again, in France, starting from the French revolution, by the current of Of Gironde at least, then by the Déclaration of the human rights and the citizen but especially in the Universal declaration of the human rights of 1948 recovery after the Second world war and the Nazism.

In France, it is Benjamin Constant mainly which, taking again the English tradition is the representative of this current of thought privileging the modern freedom of the individuals, and which one finds exposed in his famous work: '' Of the freedom of Old compared with that of Modern the '' (1819).

This differently and simultaneously with philosophies of freedom showing the cogency of the freedom of expression, which is primarily the philosophy of Spinoza (17th century) writing the Traité théologico-policy , more than that of Rousseau inspiring of the French revolution which produces another idea of freedom, more that of the citizen that of the individual, then still in Germany, the philosophy of Kant.

There exist people and civilizations where there is neither private life, nor similar need: the people without State, on the one hand, like are still some increasingly rare tribes in Africa, South America, Oceania, and on the other hand, the people whose company is not out it controls political power and where the State does not recognize a space for individual freedoms.

The concept of private life supposes the concept of individual and implies a freedom recognized with this one, which must be free, not only as a citizen having rights and a subject of right governed by laws, but as a Nobody private endowed with a distinct private space, with oneself, and which deserves respect and protection. According to this prospect the private life is protected, i.e. it is protected only as from the moment when it exists, distinct from the collective life of the community, which this one is family, nun, clannish, tribal or different. The private life exists only in the non-community companies and where the collective is not all, in other words in the companies where the individual exists. This means that certain part of the life of person can remain confidential and belong only to it, to raise only of its personal choices: family life, ideas, beliefs, characteristics, choice, various engagements, which do not have to be known and official statements outside its private sphere. All in all all that does not belong to the public sphere and all that the person chooses not to publicly reveal.

At the time contemporary the concept of private life is this modern concept, builds on a dichotomy private life/public life, allowing the deepening of a certain idea of the freedom of the individuals, which is the point of anchoring from which the critic of totalitarianism occurs, such as one sees it in particular at Hannah Arendt.

The European Convention in its guiding principles points out the objective character of the human rights, and takes support on those which it takes again and repeats: it is not a question of rights allotted to the individuals by the means of a particular legal status, potentially revocable, but of rights which are attached to the only human quality of anybody.

The protected rights are stated by Convention in its title I and its Protocols 1,4,6 and 7. They are above all individual rights, i.e. rights whose individual is titular. They aim at protecting freedom and dignity from the man: they are civil laws and policies. The economic rights and social are them stated in the European Social charter of Turin of 1961, which is checked only nonlegal, per way of reports/ratios.

If the CEDH is more precise than the Universal declaration of the human rights of 1948, it is hardly original.

Then are added to it the analyzes born of the fear inspired by the data acquisition concerning the individuals, and of the belief developed by Michel Foucault that the Knowledge is irremediably related to the Capacity. The defenders of the private life see in it the means of fighting against the appearance of a “Holding company”.

However if it is characteristic of the “company of the individuals” (according to the expression of Norbert Elias) the individualism to which this same company ends is also criticized like source of depoliticization,

The problem which point a certain social criticism, sociological, more or less from the point of view of Bourdieu, would rather consist in supporting that this problem is not only one collects information, but that everyone does not have the access to this information.

Reserves on the concept

Some sociologists do not regard the respect of the private life as a solution for the modern society, but on the contrary like the problem . According to them, never one also did not know little of it about the people with whom one dealt in the daily newspaper (compared to the rural life of formerly), which obliges us with unceasingly justifying our identitié, and to encumber us red tape in any kind. The answer which is often made to them, without to dispute this remark, is that it is a less evil .

Limits of the secrecy

Jean-Paul Sartre was explained by interview not to have not more taboo on the private life of his/her close friends: “I did not see a disadvantage to read a letter which was not addressed to me, and did not include/understand less world that one could formalize oneself some” explained it.

In the political life, the private life is often proposed by the politicians for kasher what could harm their career. One saw leaders thus following a policy homophobe while being them even homosexual, or more generally proposing their moral integrity, while carrying out a life dissolue. But some estimate that one should judge a man only on what it shows, posted competence or apparent incapacity to occupy a station.

An amateur who admires a person, estimates himself founded at all to discover on it, by all the possible ways, without intention to harm - quite to the contrary - and sometimes not even to publish. One can see that like the passion of Schliemann seeking with all to know about Troy, or those of Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon, who - discovering the tomb of Toutankamon, were not therefore the plunderers of tombs. Quite to the contrary, they was admirors éperdus of it on what they carried out their research.

In the same way, each and everyone can be discovered in certain cases an immense curiosity with respect to the liked object. This one, which is generally channeled in alleviating things (small psychological tests of living room, Graphologie, Astrologie, etc ended up becoming with time a kind of “testimony of affection” for the opposite sex.

The photographer Sophie Calle carried out a photographic exposure on this topic of the private life observed .

Right of the private life

International law

The private life is protected with the international level by article 12 from the Universal declaration from the human rights from 1948: No one will not be the object of arbitrary interferences in its private life, its family, her residence or its correspondence, nor of attacks to its honor and its reputation. Any person is entitled to protection of the law against of such interferences or such attacks.

Right French

The Universal declaration of 1948 states the rights of the individual and, among those the right to protection of the private life which repeats the French right. The only capital text concerning the private life in France is article 9 of the Civil code French “Each one is entitled to the respect of its private life”. It there also the articles R 226-1 and following of the penal code, for the sorrows envisaged. The constitutional council considers that the right to the private life rises from the freedom proclaimed by article 2 from the Déclaration from the human rights and the citizen from 1789. But it there no legal definition of the private life. It is the jurisprudence which is charged to say what is protected. It includes: the residence, the image, the voice, the fact of being pregnant, the health condition, love life, correspondence (including on the work place)… Jurisprudence does not protect on the other hand from the disclosure from the patrimonial situation from a person carrying out a public life (a such leader from large company), nor its religious practice… The facts revealed by the reports of legal debates are not protected either.

The fact that the person it even revealed facts does not authorize the redivulgation of some of these facts (right to the lapse of memory). The redivulgation is subjected to special permit, except when the publication of the facts does not aim at harming and obeys a legitimate interest.

The respect of the private life at the time of recruitment

It is not illegal in France to ask its age a candidate, and not more to ask him information, however without relationship with its step, which is its birth date , which leads to abuses such as the establishment of astrological profiles of the candidates by certain cabinets. On the other hand, it is illegal to ask for a candidate his health condition, or its will of have children, to move…

With the E. - U., to ask for the age of one candidate at the time of recruitment is strictly prohibited, and can be the subject of a lawsuit in suspicion of Discrimination of age.

Professional secrecy and private life

The Professional secrecy was set up to defend the private life of each one, and in particular the Medical secret to protect the patient against too great curiosity from the employers, insurers, and organizations of credit.

It is it should be noted that it is not possible with a patient to untie his doctor of the professional secrecy. Why? Because that would return if not to make carry a suspicion on those who do not do it, which would amount removing indirectly the aforementioned secrecy.

Respect of the private life the data processing proof

See also: Private life and data-processing

One translates into French the English expression of privacy by respect of the private life .

The concept of “ privacy ” comprises several aspects.

  • most indisputable is that not to be annoyed with the Spam on Internet, nor with the Publipostage S in the everyday life

  • Another is that nobody likes to think that its tastes and opinions can be traced, because certain organizations could make a bad use of it: for example, the list of all the books which you would have borrowed in public libraries can dissuade a potential employer to engage you; or of the religious standpoint could, if one day a theocracy seizes the power, be worth you some nuisance.
  • the concept of right to the lapse of memory recently was the subject of a renewal of topicality. This concept existed already in the general philosophy of the law (amnesties, rehabilitation, unobtrusive sorrows conscripts provisionally exempted of the police records at the end of 5 years). But the appearance of the Internet and the extent of the phenomenon came to change gives it. The reverse of the power of the Internet is that the machines do not forget anything: the memory is done world, intact and directly applicable of everywhere and by no matter whom. The employers included/understood the interest of the system well since some can type in the search engine (google in particular) the name of their (future) employed in order to more on his private life.

Examples

A site which violates the private life

A named company Intelius was created in the United States in 2003 by two defectors of Microsoft and Infospace. By the means of its Internet site, it gives the opportunity to all the American Net surfers to know details on the private life of any compatriot: its invoices, its orders on catalog, its subscriptions, the recordings of real estate. With the help of a right of access, Intelius recalls the private life (marriage, divorce, many children, removals) of the person which one will have entered the name, the first name… By the means of Intelius, one can also know his social security number, his income, the value of sound real estate, the surface of his house, the number of parts and even the mode of heating. A satellite photo posts the plan of the district, with a card indicating its ethnic composition, the number of offenses and crimes which were committed there, the level of education and incomes.

For a higher nap, Intelius proposes the history complete of the life of a person, including her Police records if it has one of them. The employers can consult these services to know the profile of the applicants for work and the employees.

Several sites violate the laws in particular sites (blog) where there are no rules respected. The site of Intelius was a considerable success; nearly 30 million visitors connect themselves to it each month since its opening. The site recorded 760% of progression since its creation, and a turnover of 40 million dollars.

In 2006, Intelius was seen giving the palm of the “best news company” by American Business Awards.

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

  • Police station with the protection of the private life of Canada.
  • Commission of access to the information of Quebec.
  • ViePrivee.com, respect and protection of the private life
  • Site of the Data-processing Federation and Freedoms

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