Privacy is a fundamental human right and a cornerstone of a democratic society. It lies at the foundation of the rule of law, the secret ballot, doctor-patient confidentiality, lawyer-client privilege, the notion of private property, and the value our society places on the autonomy of the individual.

So why is privacy one of the most contentious issues of the early 21st century?

With the development of new information and communication technologies, the ability of the state and the private sector to collect, record and "mine" personal information has grown exponentially. As early as 1996, Bruce Phillips, then Privacy Commissioner of Canada, warned, "We are in fact buying and selling large elements of our human personae. The traffic in human information now is immense. There is almost nothing the commercial and governmental world is not anxious to find out about us as individuals."

Since then, stories about the unintended consequences of this traffic have been legion:

•  A Canadian funeral home obtained the names and addresses of people diagnosed with cancer, and contacted a Montreal woman on the list about buying a burial plot and pre-paid funeral services. 
  
  
• A candy company got hold of the names of people in a weight watchers program, and sent them chocolate bars in the mail. 
  
  
• Part of a Toronto woman's medical record was printed on the back of real estate flyers which were delivered to hundreds of mailboxes. 
  
  
• Participants in a medical research study on sickle cell anemia reported an increase in difficulties getting employment and insurance after they gave genetic samples to the researchers.
  
  
• Phone Busters National Call Centre reports that over 7,600 Canadians had their identities stolen in 2002, with total losses of more than $8.5 million.
  

The humiliation, economic harm and discrimination suffered by these people raise serious questions about the impact of information technologies on personal autonomy, social relationships, and democracy.

Sociologist David Lyon argues that surveillance enables a type of "social sorting" where computer code is used to classify groups of people in "ways that tend to reinforce social divisions." Parliamentarian John Godfrey reminds us that a loss of privacy chills the exercise of other human rights, like freedom of speech or freedom of assembly.

Alan Westin contends that, if privacy is going to survive in the technological age, individuals, groups and institutions must be able to determine for themselves, when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.

Especially in a post-9/11 world, where legislators struggle to balance security against civil liberties, privacy is likely to remain an important social and political issue.