TRIBAL LIFE

(~200,000 B.C. to 6,000 B.C)

While extremely rare in tribal societies, privacy may, in fact, be instinctive. Evidence from tribal societies suggests that humans prefer to make love in solitude (In 9 of 12 societies where homes have separate bedrooms for parents, people prefer to have sex indoors. In those cultures without homes with separate rooms, sex is more often preferred outdoors).

ANCIENT CITIES

(6th Century B.C. — 4th Century AD)

University of Leicester’ Samantha Burke found that the Greeks used their sophisticated understanding of geometry to create housing with the mathematically minimum exposure to public view while maximizing available light. However, Athenians penchant for solitude was not without its influential critics: “For where men conceal their ways from one another in darkness rather than light, there no man will ever rightly gain either his due honour or office or the justice that is befitting” ~ Socrates

EARLY MIDDLE AGES

(4th century AD-1,200 AD)

Even before the collapse of ancient Rome in 4th century A.D., humanity was mostly a rural species. A stylized blueprint of the Lord Of The Rings-looking shire longhouses, which were popular for 1000 years, shows animals and humans sleeping under the same room—because, there was only one room. “There was no classical or medieval latin word equivalent to ‘privacy’. privatio meant ‘a taking away’” ~ Georges Duby, author, ‘A History Of Private Life: Revelations of the Medieval World’

LATE MEDIEVAL/EARLY RENAISSANCE

(1300–1600)

“Privacy — the ultimate achievement of the renaissance” ~ Historian Peter Smith In 1215, the influential Fourth Council Of Lateran (the “Great Council”) declared that confessions should be mandatory for the masses. This mighty stroke of Catholic power instantly extended the concept of internal morality to much of Europe. “The apparatus of moral governance was shifted inward, to a private space that no longer had anything to do with the community,” explained religious author, Peter Loy. Solitude had a powerful ally.

INTERNAL WALLS

1215 - 1500

Individual beds are a modern invention. As one of the most expensive items in the home, a single large bed became a place for social gatherings, where guests were invited to sleep with the entire family and some servants. Beds used to be extraordinarily expensive; many homes only had a single large bed that was shared with the entire family and guests. Sex with others in the Room was common.

RIGHT TO PRIVACY

1500s ad

Silent Reading was not popular until the church mandated confessions for the masses; the concept of private salvation ushered in a new habit of silent reading and contemplation

PRE-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

(1600–1840)

The home becomes private, which isn’t very private It was just prior to the industrial revolution that citizens, for the first time, demanded that the law begin to keep pace with the evolving need for secret activities. In this early handwritten note on August 20th, 1770, revolutionist and future President of the United States, John Adams, voiced his support for the concept of privacy. “I am under no moral or other Obligation…to publish to the World how much my Expences or my Incomes amount to yearly.”

GILDED AGE

1840–1950

“Privacy is a distinctly modern product” ~ E.L. Godkin, 1890 By the time the industrial revolution began serving up material wealth to the masses, officials began recognizing privacy as the default setting of human life. “The ground floor of every building contains a host of tiny rooms that open directly onto the street and each of these tiny rooms contains a family…they drag tables and chairs out into the street or leave them on the threshold, half outside, half inside…outside is organically linked to inside…yesterday I saw a mother and a father dining outdoors, while their baby slept in a crib next to the parents’ bed and an older daughter did her homework at another table by the light of a kerosene lantern…if a woman falls ill and stays in bed all day, it’s open knowledge and everyone can see her.”

RIGHT TO PRIVACY

1890

“The intensity and complexity of life, attendant upon advancing civilization, have rendered necessary some retreat from the world, and man, under the refining influence of culture, has become more sensitive to publicity, so that solitude and privacy have become more essential to the individual; but modern enterprise and invention have, through invasions upon his privacy, subjected him to mental pain and distress, far greater than could be inflicted by mere bodily injury.” ~ “The Right To Privacy” ~ December 15, 1890, Harvard Law Review The right to privacy was justified on the very grounds for which it is now so popular: technology’s encroachment on personal information.

TECHNOLOGY OF INDIVIDUALISM

20th Century

The next big advance in information technology, the telephone, was a wild success in the early 20th century. However, individual telephone lines were prohibitively expensive; instead, neighbors shared one line, known as “party lines.” Commercial ads urged neighbors to use the shared technology with “courtesy”. Late 20th Century — Fear of a World Without Privacy By the 60’s, individualized phones, rooms, and homes became the norm. 100 years earlier, when Lincoln tapped all telegraph lines, few raised any questions. In the new century, invasive surveillance would bring down Lincoln’s distant successor, even though his spying was far less pervasive.

TRACKING DEVICES

2000s

In the early 2,000s, young consumers were willing to purchase a location tracking feature that was once the stuff of 1984 nightmares. “The magic age is people born after 1981…That’s the cut-off for us where we see a big change in privacy settings and user acceptance.” Loopt Co-Founder Sam Altman, who pioneered paid geo-location features.