The Right to Privacy
Privacy is protected by law in many countries and by international law. Read section 5.3, which discusses privacy rights and the laws that protect privacy. Make note of what is considered to be privacy and what is protected by the US constitution, by the United Nations (UN), and by the European Union (EU).
1. The right to privacy
1.2. The right to privacy: international law
Protection of human rights requires a resilient system of checks and balances, i.e. a series of institutional safeguards to ensure that the state does not claim unreasonable exceptions and faces a stringently independent judiciary to keep the powers of the state "in check". As noted above, the need to protect subjects of the state against the state, gave rise to international human rights law, which provides an extra layer of checks and balances. Privacy is explicitly protected by art. 17 of the United Nations (UN) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, and by art. 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) of 1950, two examples of international law. Both articles are similar, we quote art. 8 ECHR to give the reader a first taste:
1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
The UN ICCPR has global application, with currently 178 signatories and 172 ratifications, but its enforcement mechanisms are relatively weak compared to the ECHR. In art. 34, the ECHR provides citizens of the 48 contracting parties with an individual right to complain to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR):
The Court may receive applications from any person, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals claiming to be the victim of a violation by one of the High Contracting Parties of the rights set forth in the Convention or the protocols thereto. The High Contracting Parties undertake not to hinder in any way the effective exercise of this right.
The ECHR, however, does not have global application, as it only applies within the jurisdiction of the Council of Europe.