The ethics of consciousness engineering and alteration. Integration of neuro-somatic input and monitoring devices in virtual reality units. This dichotomy of freedom and privacy pivots on the central issue of trust. There is no aspect of human interaction which does not depend on, and at some level, call into question, the fundamental issue of trust. Trust is the fiber of which every relationship and every institution is woven.
Freedom is the measure of that mutual trust.
Law, insofar as it, at its essence, defines, delimits and restricts the actions of people and institutions, describes the boundaries of our trust in any given situation. Therefore, to the extent that trust is lacking, we make laws. Law replaces trust where trust is absent. Law, however, does not equal trust. Law is, by definition, the absence of trust.