The History of Privacy

“Privacy is a fundamental human right. It underpins human dignity and other values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech. It has become one of the most important human rights of the modern age.” – http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-559062

The earliest piece of law in England which related to privacy is in 1361, the Justices of the Peace Act provided for the arrest of peeping toms and eavesdroppers.

Of course privacy is recognised in the Qur’an and in the says of Mohammed, as to it is mentioned in The Bible.

More recently, it wasnt until around the 60’s and 70’s that the interest into the right of privacy had risen. With the surveillance poterntial of powerful computer systems prompted demands for specific rules governing the collection and handling of personal information.

The first data protection act was created in Germany, 1970.

Without listing endless amounts of details about out current Data Protextion Act(1998) here is a link which has it all – http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/Acts1998/ukpga_19980029_en_1