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Article: Privacy
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PRIVACY
Any information that a person chooses to keep to himself or herself is considered "private" information. A person's right to privacy is protected under Article 12 of the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks." UN member countries are morally, if not legally, bound by such declarations.
Privacy relates to personal information that a person would not wish others to know without authorization, and to a person's right to ...