Power, Identity, Integrity, Authenticity, and the Archives, A Comparative Study of the Application of Archival Methodologies to Contemporary Privacy

Privacy has a prominent place in the management of archives and consequently in the literature. As archivists, we have a trusted role in determining access to archives in our care. This is an area that, owing to the onward march of technology, develops rapidly in its administration even if the overall aim is constant: ensuring appropriate access to documentary heritage. This paper attempts to link developments in this area identified in previous work under the auspices of the InterPARES project to issues of archival methodology and even to theory. Trends in jurisprudence and politics mean that although we can expect still to be judged on our management of access, there are other, equally fundamental challenges to be addressed. Globalization of commerce, governmental data sharing, and jurisprudence means that even where a stable and balanced regulation of privacy has been achieved - as it seems to have been in Canada - there are deep-seated threats and challenges to this settlement. The element of consent in the current compact between citizens and the archives may need to be revisited sooner rather than later. These challenges are discussed as they relate to established professional methodologies. Finally, by bringing to bear the philosophical postmodernism of Jacques Derrida and postmodern archival approaches as exemplified by the continuum viewpoint, consideration is given to the definition, potential, and limitations of privacy as a postmodern archival proposition.