A Brief History of Data Privacy

This chapter presents a brief historical overview of the concept of individual privacy to construct the paradigm for development of applicable laws. The initial roots of data privacy are found in the most basic Human Rights enshrined under the
UN Declaration on Human Rights
, and subsequently echoed in the
EU Convention on Human Rights
. In 1960, William Prosser, a tort law scholar, delineated four distinct privacy torts – based on the cases mentioned in the Warren and Brandeis article: intrusion upon seclusion; public disclosure of private facts; false light and publicity; and appropriation. Data privacy had initial sporadic growth in Europe with France implementing its first data protection regulation as early as 1970. One of the catalysts for commercialization of data collection and sharing without providing individuals' consent was the Gramm‐Leach‐Bliley Act of 1999.