## 4 Privacy and Open Government  
Privacy is not an easy concept to define [26], and attempts at definition have ranged from the classic \"right to be left alone\" [27] to more nuanced concepts of privacy as integral to dignity, autonomy and integrity [28], or as consisting of \"many different yet related things\" [26] (p. 9). Although there are many theories and critiques of privacy, it is generally the case the contemporary data protection norms are based upon a liberal view of privacy premised both upon the autonomous individual who can make informed choices about the sharing of her personal information, and a certain separation between public and private--between the individual and the state [29]. In this view, individual privacy is seen as essential to a person's ability to act autonomously and to be free from undue interference from the state.  
[PERSON] and [PERSON] argue that the enactment of public and private sector data protection laws in Western democracies over the last quarter of the twentieth century was a reaction to the \"recognition of the power of new information and communication technologies in the hands of large public and private agencies\" [29] (p. xviii). In liberal democracies these laws have tended to reflect a conception of privacy as an individual right, and one that is relatively subjective. The goal is to preserve autonomy by protecting privacy, but at the same time to leave room for autonomy by preserving choice in relation to one's personal information. In other words, the legal framework for protecting privacy reflects a view that different individuals in different contexts may make different choices about the degree of privacy protection they want. It is no surprise, then, that data protection laws tend to be based on \"control\" models [29, 30] that permit individuals some latitude in choosing whether and to what extent their personal information will be collected, used or disclosed. In the public sector context, where individuals may have fewer choices about whether and when the government will collect personal information, the obligations on government to protect this data tend to be more onerous.  
[PERSON] and [PERSON] [29] (p. 6) suggest that the protection of privacy in relation to information in the hands of government \"is arguably related to wider attitudes about participation in public affairs and about trust in the authority of government agencies\". It is worth noting, therefore, that the protection of personal information in the hands of government may also serve some of the goals of open government, particularly those relating to the encouragement of citizen participation and engagement with government.  
The privacy challenges brought about by the open government movement relate to an evolving technological context that increasingly blurs the boundaries between public and private, that sees a shift in relationships between governments and citizens, and that has created an increasingly democratized and disintermediated information environment. In this section, three particular privacy challenges for open government are discussed. The first relates to finding the appropriate balance between values of privacy and those of transparency and accountability in the context of public personal information, the second is the continuing collapse of public and private spheres and the implications for traditional models of data protection, and the third is the risk of disclosure of personally identifying information through open data.