The Limits of Privacy.

• Author: Thaemert, Rita
• Position: Review

The Limits of Privacy by Amitai Etzioni, Basic Books, New York, N.Y., 1999. 280 pages, $25

Professor Etzioni presents a thoughtful and common sense look at contemporary public policy on privacy. He argues that society's regulation of privacy has evolved over time and that modern perspectives on privacy can be reformulated. He advocates a new perspective on privacy "that does not privilege privacy over the common good but rather is open to balance" with society's concerns for accountability.

The book is intended to assist with sorting out the contentious assertions in discussions of privacy rights and the requirements of public health and public safety. It examines the AIDS epidemic and the privacy of sex offenders vs. the safety of children--areas where he recommends slight reductions in privacy--while an extensive analysis of medical privacy calls for tighter restrictions. Tension is inevitable between our intense desire for privacy and our profound concern for public health and public safety.

Privacy varies with circumstance. Etzioni provides a history of privacy in the United States, pointing out that the major expansion of privacy law today is constitutionally based and largely driven by advancements in technology. He writes that "the relationship between rights and responsibilities drastically shifted in American society between 1960 and 1990 as a new emphasis on personal autonomy and individualism gradually overwhelmed other societal considerations." The balance of rights and responsibilities has not been applied to privacy public policy.

The Limits of Privacy addresses four instances of conflict between privacy and the good of society. Mandatory testing of newborns for HIV is advocated for early intervention to counsel mothers and provide treatments to prevent infant suffering and death. The main opposition to such testing is that it violates a mother's privacy by divulging HIV status without consent.

Etzioni objects to legislation referred to as "Megan's Laws," which warn the community about the presence of sex offenders, because these laws fail to sufficiently protect the common good, not because they are an excessive affront to offenders' rights to privacy.

Is public safety endangered if authorities are not...