Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
Privacy-as-control (‘PaC’) is one of the dominant conceptions of privacy. PaC means that each person should be able to decide for themselves whether to disclose personal data to another person, company, or the state, when, how, and under which conditions. PaC is translated into operational mechanisms, namely Fair Information practices (FIPs). In practice, we have little control, especially vis-à-vis data-driven corporations. Privacy scholars blame PaC for much of the muddle in the field, claiming that PaC achieves the opposite––loss of control and privacy. This Article defends PaC, properly understood …

Birnhack, Michael D, In Defense of Privacy-as-Control (Properly Understood) (December 3, 2024), 65 Jurimetrics (2025), Forthcoming.