Privacy

A person's right to control access to his or her personal information.

In R v Edwards, ¶49, Justice Cory of Canada's Supreme Court used these words to define privacy:

"The state or condition of being alone, undisturbed, or free from public attention, as a matter of choice or right; freedom from interference or intrusion.

"An important aspect of privacy is the ability to exclude others from the premises. The right to be free from intrusion or interference is a key element of privacy."

Privacy is often raised in the context of government collection or distribution of personal information. In this regard, these words of Justice Dickson in R v Duarte in a criminal case involving a wire-tap:

"Privacy may be defined as the right of the individual to determine when, how, and to what extent he or she will release personal information. A reasonable expectation of privacy demands that an individual may proceed on the assumption that the state may only violate this right by recording private communications on a clandestine basis when it has established to the satisfaction of a detached judicial officer that an offence has been or is being committed and that interception of private communications stands to afford evidence of the offence."

REFERENCES:

• R v Duarte (also R v Sanelli) (1990) 1 SCR 39
• R v Edwards (1996) 1 SCR 128