It bothers me when people equate the right of privacy (i.e. the right to be let alone) with a perceived right of seclusion (i.e. a perceived right to not be see

It bothers me when people equate the right of privacy (i.e. the right to be let alone) with a perceived right of seclusion (i.e. a perceived right to not be seen/heard/disturbed by others). The disconcerting reality is that privacy is far more encompassing. Privacy isn't just about freedom from unwanted attention. It's about your right to remain free of unwanted intrusions in your life. Privacy law protects a woman's choice to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, a homosexual male's choice to privately engage in sodomy with the consent of another, and a heterosexual couple's choice concerning the use of contraception for non-procreative sex. Privacy also protects your right to refuse medical attention for yourself and, in some jurisdictions, on behalf of your minor children. It additionally applies to a family's choices in rearing their children: the right to privacy protects a family's choice of religion, meals to eat, whether to participate in religion, etc. When people claim that they don't mind putatively invidious legislation because they have "nothing to hide," they are doing an enormous disservice to privacy law. They might as well say: "We don't mind the government acting as our (family's) autopilot."