Privacy as Europe's First Amendment

European Law Journal, Volume 25, Issue 2 (2019), Forthcoming

22 Pages Posted: 13 Feb 2019 Last revised: 23 Feb 2019

See all articles by Bilyana Petkova

Bilyana Petkova

Middlesex University London; Yale University - Yale Information Society Project

Date Written: February 13, 2019

Abstract

The protection of universal principles varies across different jurisdictions: the prominence of free speech in the United States is undisputed. My argument is that in America, the First Amendment took off only during the New Deal and later, the Civil Rights revolution as an identity-formation and unifying tool in a deeply divided society. The symbolic significance of free speech in the US remains central to this day. In the midst of its identity crisis with looming Brexit, Europe is now experimenting with privacy-as-constitutional identity in a somewhat similar way. This article seeks to unpack the values encompassed in privacy and freedom of speech, looking into the different functional responses that two different democratic societies place their bets on. As data protection and privacy come to a clash with important trade and security interests in an ever more globalized world, the power of the outward-oriented European privacy discourse is likely to remain above all rhetorical.

Keywords: First Amendment speech clause, privacy, data protection, constitutional identity

Suggested Citation

Petkova, Bilyana, Privacy as Europe's First Amendment (February 13, 2019). European Law Journal, Volume 25, Issue 2 (2019), Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3333937

Bilyana Petkova (Contact Author)

Middlesex University London ( email )

, The Burroughs, Hendon, London, United Kingdom
London, NW4 4BT
United Kingdom

Yale University - Yale Information Society Project ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

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