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Abstract:
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Rights have been long understood, first and foremost, as protection of the private from the public,
the individual from the State. True, we also recognize positive rights (such as socioeconomic
rights) and the government’s duty to protect citizens from violations of rights by other actors besides
the State. However, when violations of privacy are discussed, the first violator that typically comes
to mind is “Big Brother”—that is, the State.1
This Article focuses on the growing threat to privacy from private actors, specifically profit-making
corporations. It briefly outlines a range of options aimed at protecting individual privacy against
encroachment by private actors, and it evaluates them within the prevailing normative, legal, and
political context in the United States. |