5 - Outing Privacy as Anti-Subordination

Summary

Perhaps not surprisingly given the government’s widespread criminal and administrative surveillance regimes, the government possesses – and then sometimes discloses – large amounts of our personal information. As in the case of a police officer threatening to out a teenage boy’s queer sexuality to a relative,¹ sometimes these disclosures are ad hoc or one-off. But other times, such as pill lines in prisons where people’s HIV or mental health medications may be disclosed or broadcast to others in the line, the outings are more systematic and routine.² Thus far, I have focused largely on solutions to problems of privacy while navigating (physical or online/cyber/digital) public space. This chapter and the next turn from problems of public privacy to issues of so-called informational privacy – unconsented to disclosure of information about someone. In other words, problems of outing. Here, I focus on government disclosures before turning in the final chapter to private-party disclosures.