Review of The Right to Privacy (Paperback)

Today, when voyeurs, marketers, and the curious are invading so many aspects of what has traditionally been considered the individual'sinviolate personal domain, this book is a God-send in helping us understandwhat it is we have with the right to privacy, and also in helping us tofocus on what is so much at risk. While the word "privacy" appears nowherein our Constitution, a majority of Americans fervently believe that theirright to privacy is a key element which is central to the way they livetheir public and personal lives, and that it is also key to the viabilityof the democratic system. Given the fact that it is a somewhat abstract,ambiguous, and difficult idea to define, privacy is indeed seen as being acritical and irreplaceable basic right of individuals.

In thiswonderful, eminently accessible, and very readable book, Ellen Alderman andCaroline Kennedy, produce a gem of a work that offers a thoughtful,absorbing, and provocative overview of what the generally perceived(although not specifically Constitutionally defined) right to privacy meansfor us as citizens and individuals. Using a well-integrated series oflandmark cases, trial decisions, and an entertaining plethora ofanecdotal situations, the authors render this abstract, complicated, andcritically important legal right much more understandable andcomprehensible. As with their earlier book, "In Our Defense", Alderman andKennedy transform the arcane legal language of various laws, regulations,and court decisions into relevant and compelling arguments that help thereader understand just how central to our basic liberties the right toprivacy is.

The book examines six general areas of tension and concernregarding the right to privacy; privacy versus law enforcement, privacy andyour self, privacy versus the press, privacy versus the voyeur, privacy inthe workplace, and privacy versus information. In examining each of theseissues, the authors engage what the right to privacy means in practicalterms. For example, can one refuse to comply if a police officer askspermission to look through one's luggage? Does your employer have a rightto know your sexual orientation? Can the electronic media invade your homein pursuit of a hot story? In each of these cases, they also show how therights to privacy must be seen and understood in the context of otherpublic and individual rights and prerogatives.

In all this cogent andcompelling narrative, one hear the consistent voice of caution and reason,for the authors are mindful of the fact that we live in a society in whichour individual rights as citizens and individuals are under continuingassault, and are very much under threat from other competing needs andconcerns. This is an extremely thoughtful, straightforward, and aneminently compelling argument on behalf of public education and enlightenedself-interest. This is a wonderful book, and one I highly recommend. Enjoy.



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