Privacy
Privacy is the personal sphere that separates and shields ourselves and our actions, attributes and information from others. The term is derived from the Latin "privatus," meaning "separate from the rest. Privacy can refer to an individual as well as a group, such as a family.
Linked to privacy is the need for almost every person to be able to decide for themselves with whom they wish to share personal information and otherwise live unguarded and anonymous. Privacy and anonymity in this sense is often linked to freedom.
Privacy is sometimes at odds with the desire of government and business to know a lot about us. For example, the government collects personal information to track and combat terrorism. This is why providers are subject to a retention obligation. For companies, it can be interesting to collect data about (potential) customers to use for targeted direct marketing.
Privacy in the law
To protect privacy, there are national and international privacy laws. In our country, the right to privacy is enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the General Data Protection Regulation ( until May 25, 2018: Personal Data Protection Act). Supervisor of compliance with Dutch privacy legislation is the Personal Data Authority.
Institutions that record personal data are required to comply with applicable laws. Most organizations disclose what this means to customers and users in a privacy statement.
One danger that has increased with the advent of the Internet is that of privacy theft. Here, criminals collect sensitive personal data, for example through phishing, and then use it for identity fraud.
