Can the government stick us with privacy we don't want? It can, it does, and according to the author, it may need to do more of it. Privacy is a foundational good, she argues, a necessary tool in the liberty lover's kit for a successful life. A nation committed to personal freedom must be prepared to mandate privacy protections for its people, whether they eagerly embrace them or not. This book draws attention to privacies of seclusion, concealment, confidentiality and data-protection undervalued by their intended beneficiaries and targets, and outlines the best reasons for imposing them. The author looks at laws designed to keep website operators from collecting personal information, laws that force strippers to wear thongs, and the myriad employee and professional confidentiality rules, including insider trading laws, that require strict silence about matters whose disclosure could earn us small fortunes. She shows that such laws recognize the extraordinary importance of dignity, trust and reputation, helping to preserve social, economic and political options throughout a lifetime.

Normative Foundations. Privacies not wanted. Everyday meanings of privacy ; Privacy law ; Are paternalistic privacy policies justifiable? ; A right to waive privacy protection? ; Why impose unpopular privacy? ; Feminist skepticism ; Libertarian skepticism ; The context ; Neglected rights, forgotten duties ; Opportunity imperative or experience imperative? ; Justification and practical limits ; Constraining state domination -- Physical Privacies: Seclusion and Concealment. Seclusion. Solitude ; Getting away, hiding out ; Stuck at home: flaneur and hausfrau ; Sanctuary ; Interrupted: do not call ; Put away: imprisonment ; Shut away: quarantine -- Modesty. Muslims in America ; The hijab in France ; Undressing women or addressing social problems? ; The niqab in America ; Modesty, the analysis ; General modesty ; Bodily (and sexual) modesty ; Modesty rights ; Religious freedom ; Individuality ; Uniformity and public service ; A peculiar modesty bias in U.S. law ; A "compelling state interest" -- Nudity. The Barnes case: legal moralism ; City of Erie: the harm principle ; Canadian cases ; R. v. Tremblay: community tolerance ; R. v. Mara: look, don't touch ; Modesty on the run ; Conditions of work ; Mutual disrespect -- Information Privacies: Confidentiality and Data Protection. Confidentiality. The practice of confidentiality ; Relationships and occupations ; Documents, records, spaces ; Overlapping and conflicting directives ; Law, coercion, and justice ; Lawmaking as practical compromise ; Sanction and deterrence ; The right to say what you know ; Paid-for silence ; Flourishing in a free society ; Confidentiality in context ; Healthcare ; Laws mandating health privacy ; Mental health ; Waiver ; Exception -- Racial Privacy. What is sensitive data? ; A missing jurisprudence ; An unpopular referendum ; Recognition in the courtroom ; Profiling in New Hampshire ; Lessons from Georgia ; Politics and race in Illinois ; Racial privacy outweighed ; Ambivalence and paradox ; Secrets and sensitivities ; Persecution ; Political liberalism: the question of impartiality ; Private association and civil rights -- The Electronic Data GIve-Away. The federal privacy statutes ; Many statutes, inadequate protection? ; Practical obscurity: a swan song after the web ; Give away, take away ; Lifelogs: remembering everything ; Caring about not caring about privacy -- Popular Paternalism. Paternalistic mandates ; A job for the nanny state ; The children's internet privacy law ; Fair information practices ; A law in action ; Why age thirteen? ; Is the paternalism justified? ; Do young adults need paternalistic laws, too?.