ACCEPTED - N/A

REJECTED - AYUSHI

RETURNED - TANYA

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY LAWS

INTRODUCTION

As Digital technology connects the World, protecting personal privacy becomes a major
Challenge. We share data across many online platforms, so strong security measures are
essential. Therefore balance between technological advancements and privacy laws is crucial.

There is an advancement of Artificial Intelligence that makes people's work easier but it also
poses a concern related to privacy because when we use AI, our information gets collected,
stored, and shared through which we get a result as per the information that you have
provided. It provides additional benefits but also raises a critical concern about individual
privacy and the lack of an existing legal framework to safeguard it1.

Privacy used to be a less complicated right, but now it’s a complicated and contested area of
the law. Traditionally, privacy laws were grounded in the idea that individuals should be
protected from physical incursions, encapsulated in Warren and Brandeis’s landmark 1890 2
paper, The Right to Privacy. Today, these laws face challenges from a world where digital
footprints tend to reveal more than physical ones do. Data driven Tech like ad-targeting and
facial recognition has changed how we think about privacy.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF PRIVACY LAWS:

1
‘(PDF) PRIVACY LAW CHALLENGES IN THE DIGITAL AGE: A GLOBAL REVIEW OF
LEGISLATION AND ENFORCEMENT’ [2024] ResearchGate
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378779704_PRIVACY_LAW_CHALLENGES_IN_THE_DIGITAL
_AGE_A_GLOBAL_REVIEW_OF_LEGISLATION_AND_ENFORCEMENT> accessed 26 January 2025.
2
‘Warren and Brandeis, “The Right to Privacy”’
<https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/articles/privacy/Privacy_brand_warr2.html> accessed 26
January 2025.
Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis 3, give the concept of privacy as a legal right in the
late 90th century through their article titled ‘The right to Privacy’ which was published in
1890 in Harvard Law Review. This article responds to the media personnel who use the
individual’s data with the rise of photography without their consent.

Warren and Brandeis argued that privacy should be considered as a distinct legal concept.
They define privacy as “the right to be let alone” which highlights the privacy of self-esteem
or autonomy over their life without any public disturbance. This article highlights the legal
forms that are important to protect one’s reputation or redressal from any injuries that are
caused by any disclosure of personal information.

Their vision is to make privacy a legal reform because it is directly linked to the people's
freedom and dignity Which causes harm and also violates people’s fundamental rights.
Therefore, the article came into the picture and marked a turning point that could lead the
government to establish a privacy law that is concerned with people's privacy about their
lives. However, it laid down the groundwork for privacy law in the United States and more4.

THE EVOLUTION OF PRIVACY CONCEPTS IN VARIOUS LEGAL SYSTEMS5

1.UNITED STATES: Warren and Bandeis's article laid the existence of the legal framework
of privacy law in the United States but it took decades to establish fully integrated privacy
laws. Over time, the privacy laws in the US began to recognize privacy as a legal cause of
action, particularly in cases involving defamation, intrusion upon seclusion, and publicity
about private facts6.

2.The Federal Wiretap Act (1968): This act criminalized unauthorized interception of wire
communications, laying the groundwork for privacy protection in the context of
communications.

3
Ibid.
4
‘Warren and Brandeis, “The Right to Privacy”’ (n 2).
5
‘JETIR2403629.Pdf’ <https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2403629.pdf> accessed 26 January 2025.
6
‘‘Warren and Brandeis, “The Right to Privacy”’ (n 2).
3. The Privacy Act of 1974: Enacted in response to growing concerns about government
surveillance, this Act regulates the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of
personal information by federal agencies.

4.The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986) : This law expanded privacy
protections in electronic communications, such as phone calls and emails, making it illegal to
intercept or disclose private communications without consent.

There is a recent development in GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe

where it affected all the privacy laws globally California has its privacy laws but the US still
lacks in making privacy laws like federal privacy laws.

EUROPEAN UNION-The European Union is proactive in its legislative privacy rights as it

includes rights to privacy in Article 8, particularly with the European Convention of Human
Rights which plays a crucial role in forming privacy in Europe.

THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR, 2018)-This regulation

replaces the 1995 Data Protection Directive, the GDPR is one of the strict regulations for
maintaining the privacy of individuals, as it grants greater control over the individual's data,
charges hefty amounts if violated any rules or regulations, and ensures privacy in the digital
age.

“The EU's approach emphasizes the idea of privacy as a fundamental human right, as
recognized in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000). The EU has
positioned itself as a leader in global privacy protection, particularly in response to
technological advancements and the rise of big data and surveillance”7.

1. LATIN AMERICA:
Many countries in Latin America form a strong privacy framework that is influenced
by both international privacy laws and human rights laws. Brazil's GENERAL
DATA PROTECTION LAW, enacted in 20208, shares many similarities with the
GDPR and seeks to regulate the processing of personal data across all sectors.
7
Jeanette Herrle Hirsh Jesse, ‘The Peril and Potential of the GDPR’ (Centre for International Governance
Innovation) <https://www.cigionline.org/articles/peril-and-potential-gdpr/> accessed 26 January 2025.
8
Sharmila, ‘Data Protection in Latin American Countries’ (ClarkeModet, 19 June 2023)
<https://www.clarkemodet.com/en/articles/data-protection-in-latin-american-countries/> accessed 26 January
2025.
 Similarly, Argentina is one of the first countries which formed a legal framework for
privacy laws which is based on European law.

2. INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES AND GLOBAL TRENDS:

The United Nations including the international human rights are also contributing to
the privacy law and in 2020, the UN declared privacy as a fundamental human right,
especially in the digital age. The declaration is about cross-border data flows and
international agreements and has encouraged global cooperation on privacy
protection. There is a need for a global unified approach to global privacy standards,
but achieving this international consensus poses a challenge9.

3. ASIA:
The Asian privacy laws are aligned with the European models and in India, the
personal data protection bill was introduced in 2019 and is still under review.
Whereas, Japan on the protection of personal information was revised in 2017, based
on international standards and formed a strong framework that leads to transparency
and consent for data collection10.
, China has adopted a regulatory approach in the form of a personal information
protection law which was introduced in 2021, It laid a strong foundation to protect the
privacy of society and it is handled by the surveillance of the government11.

CONCLUSION:
In historical context or privacy, every country follows privacy laws that help maintain
the privacy of the individual’s data or information that do not cause any harm to the
reputation or well-being of the people. As everyone in the world, uses digital
technology through which our information flows from one web to another, which
poses a risk of privacy so to maintain it, most countries establish a legal framework to
maintain the privacy of the people. Due to Warren and Brandeis’s article, the right to

9
‘Emerging Data Privacy Laws and Regulations Around the World - IEEE Digital Privacy’
<https://digitalprivacy.ieee.org/publications/topics/emerging-data-privacy-laws-and-regulations-around-the-
world> accessed 26 January 2025.
10
‘Act on the Protection of Personal Information - English - Japanese Law Translation’
<https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4241/en#je_ch3sc2at1> accessed 26 January 2025.
11
‘The China Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL)’ (Deloitte China)
<https://www2.deloitte.com/cn/en/pages/risk/articles/personal-information-protection-law.html> accessed 26
January 2025.
privacy came into the picture as a fundamental right that helps maintain the full
autonomy of people.
In today’s world, there is an advancement in AI which also poses a concern about
privacy. The AI collects, stores, and shares our information so anyone can easily
misuse our information. Therefore, there should be a need to adopt a privacy law that
should balance both technology and privacy.