A Contractualist Delineation of the Right to Know and the Right to Privacy: Internal Clarification and Extension within a Libertarian Rights Framework

Abstract

This paper aims to rigorously define and extend the logical relationship between the right to know and the right to privacy within a rights framework that takes self-ownership as its first principle. The core argument proceeds in two progressive tiers. The first tier focuses on inter-individual relations: this paper argues that the right to know is, in essence, an extension of the right to liberty in the informational domain, whose normative content is "the freedom to acquire information," rather than "a claim-right to demand disclosure from others"; correspondingly, the right to privacy is a derivative protective mechanism, the absolute portion of which serves to defend against infringements upon an individual's rights to liberty and property, while its alienable portion may be voluntarily waived through contract. The second tier extends the analysis to relations between individuals and organizations, and between organizations themselves: this paper argues that the proposition "organizations do not possess natural rights" cannot lead to the conclusion that "anything may be done to organizations." The ultimate criterion for judging the legality of any act directed at an organization is whether that act substantively infringes upon the rights of the specific individuals behind the organization. Building on this, the paper further argues that the legitimacy of information disclosure between organizations rests on only two possible sources: either explicit authorization from a common principal, or a voluntary contract autonomously concluded between the organizations. In this way, the boundary between the right to know and the right to privacy acquires a unified, contractualist interpretation across the full spectrum from individuals to organizations, one that does not depend on any external authority.