The concept of privacy has a legal history, which is influenced by ongoing political discourse and technological change. The development of the concept of self parallels the development of the concept of privacy, which is now threatened by the ebbing of the desire for intimacy and by the increased ease of access to personal information.
Technological changes increase ease of access to information, which influences where boundaries are.
As these boundaries change, what constitutes their transgression also changes. The valorization of private life is central to democracy, while its destruction lies at the core of totalitarianism. With the erosion of privacy by mass culture, loneliness replaces solitude. The conference is organized by Arien Mack, Editor of Social Research and Marrow Professor of Psychology at the Graduate Faculty of New School University . There will be a reception for conference attendees on Friday, October 6, 2000.