Contextual integrity

Contextual integrity is a theory of privacy developed by Helen Nissenbaum and presented in her book Privacy In Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life.[1] It comprises four essential descriptive claims:

  • Privacy is provided by appropriate flows of information.
  • Appropriate information flows are those that conform with contextual information norms
  • Contextual informational norms refer to five independent parameters: data subject, sender, recipient, information type, and transmission principle
  • Conceptions of privacy are based on ethical concerns that evolve over time
  1. ^ Helen Nissenbaum, Privacy in Context, 2010