Privacy as a Tool for Antidiscrimination

Jessica L. Roberts
2013 Social Science Research Network  
A person cannot consider information that she does not have. Unlawful discrimination, therefore, frequently requires discriminators to have knowledge about protected status. This Article exploits that simple reality, arguing that protecting privacy can prevent discrimination by restricting access to the very information discriminators use to discriminate. Although information related to many antidiscrimination categories, like race and sex, may be immediately apparent upon meeting a person,
more » ... acy law can still do significant work to prevent discrimination on the basis of less visible traits such as genetic information, age, national origin, ethnicity, and religion, as well as in cases of racial or gender ambiguity.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.2263583 fatcat:rxp67kgptzewhfvgfecxulta3i