Privacy
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What it is
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The assurance that your data is only seen by the parties you intend to view it. It is distinct from security (trusting the tools you use) and anonymity (acting without a persistent identifier) — the three overlap but aren't the same thing, and it's possible to have any combination of them.
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the set of legal protections around personal data, defined ideally from the perspective of the Data Subject whose data it is
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Why it matters
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Information confers power over people. Since modern life runs almost entirely on information — shopping, voting, reading news, getting directions — the rules governing who can see and use that information determine how much power others have over you. It isn't about hiding wrongdoing; it's about who holds the power that comes from knowing things about you.
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Contrast with
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Security — security is about trusting and protecting the tools; you can use a secure app that isn't private (e.g. Gmail is very secure but not private from Google itself).
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Anonymity — anonymity severs the link to your identity entirely; privacy just controls who sees the data, without necessarily hiding who you are.
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Legal scope
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local/regional (e.g., vehicle registration, medical licensing), national (e.g., HIPAA, children's online privacy laws), and global (many countries working together on privacy standards)
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GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
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