Privacy as a right to be left alone within a personal zone of solitude, and privacy as the right to control information about oneself. It is valuable to consider the connection between these two sense of privacy. Certain decisions that we make about how we live our lives, as well as the control of personal information, play a crucial role in defining our own personal identity. Privacy is important because it establishes the boundary between individuals and thereby defines one's individuality. The right to control certain extremely personal decisions and information helps determine the kind of person we are and the person we become.
Privacy can be legally protected in three ways: by the constitution, by federal or state statues, and by the common law. Common law refers to the body of law comprised of the decisions handed down by courts, rather than specified in any particular statues or regulations. The invasion of privacy claim with which most people are familiar is one that developed through case law called intrusion into seclusion. This legal violation occurs when someone intentionally intrudes on the private affairs of another when the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.