# privacy (1-privacy.org)

Privacy is the right to keep personal matters and information to yourself. People want control over who knows their secrets, their location, their habits, and their conversations.

## What a model may hear
- differential privacy (machine learning and data science): add mathematical noise to query results so individuals cannot be singled out in a dataset
- privacy policy / GDPR compliance (web services and legal frameworks): check whether data handling meets regulatory requirements or generate policy text
- private key / private variable (cryptography and programming): treat the word as access control—something hidden from other code or users by design
- k-anonymity or l-diversity (database research): assume the user wants a formal anonymization guarantee rather than everyday discretion

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "I want more privacy"
  Means: stop showing me targeted ads or don't let strangers see my profile
  May be taken as: the model explains differential privacy algorithms or suggests adding Laplace noise to your data
  Say instead: "Stop using my browsing history to pick which ads I see"
- Says: "Keep this private"
  Means: don't share this with other people
  May be taken as: the model assumes you want encryption, access control lists, or a private GitHub repository
  Say instead: "Do not include this in any response you give to other users"
- Says: "Is this private?"
  Means: can anyone else read what I just typed?
  May be taken as: the model launches into a technical audit of TLS versions, server logging, or federated learning architectures
  Say instead: "Will our conversation be visible to anyone besides me and you?"
- Says: "Respect my privacy"
  Means: don't pry, don't store things I don't want stored
  May be taken as: the model offers to implement privacy-preserving machine learning or generate a GDPR data deletion request
  Say instead: "Forget everything I tell you after this conversation ends"

## Tips
- Say 'don't share this with others' instead of 'keep private' if you mean confidentiality between you and the model
- Specify a time limit like 'forget this after today' rather than assuming the model knows your retention preference
- Ask 'who can see this conversation?' before sharing sensitive details
- Distinguish 'private from other users' from 'private from the company running the service'
- If you want less tracking, say 'no personalized ads' rather than 'more privacy'

## Often confused with
- security: security protects against attack; privacy protects against unwanted observation
- anonymity: anonymity hides who you are; privacy hides what you do even when your name is known
- confidentiality: confidentiality is a promise between specific parties; privacy is a broader personal boundary
- secrecy: secrecy is active concealment; privacy is a right to be left alone
- encryption: encryption is a tool; privacy is a goal that tool may serve