One can think that Privacy is relatively new. For example, GDPR (E.U. data privacy comprehensive law) went into effect in 2018, CCPA (California) in 2020, PPL (Israel) in 1981, and FCRA (U.S. credit reporting sector privacy law) in 1971.
However, before being a law, Privacy was a social concept rooted in some of the oldest texts and cultures. Privacy is referenced numerous times in the rules of classical Greece and the Bible. Jewish law has historically recognized the concept of freedom from being watched. Privacy is similarly recognized in the Qu'ran and in the sayings of Mohammed, where there is the discussion of the Privacy of prayer and the avoidance of spying or talking ill of someone behind their back.
The legal protection of privacy rights has a similarly far-reaching history. For example, in England, the Justices of the Peace Act, enacted in 1361, included provisions calling for the arrest of "peeping Toms" and eavesdroppers. In 1765, British Lord Camden protected the Privacy of the home, striking down a warrant to enter someone's house and seize papers from it.
The British tradition of privacy protection was built into the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1789. Although the word privacy does not appear in the Constitution, several provisions relate to Privacy. For example, the Third Amendment bans quartering of soldiers in a person's home; the Fourth Amendment generally requires a search warrant before the police can enter a home or business; the Fifth Amendment prohibits persons from being compelled to testify against themselves, and, later, the Fourteenth Amendment, with its requirement of due process under the law, protects persons from intrusions into their bodily autonomy.
By contrast, the California Constitution explicitly guarantees the right to Privacy, added in 1974: "All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy".
In many parts of the world, modern Privacy has arisen within the context of human rights. In December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration formally announced that "no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence." In 1950, the Council of Europe established the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Article 8 of that Convention, which has been the subject of extensive litigation, provides that "everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence," with this right conditioned where necessary to protect national security and other goals, as essential to preserving a democratic society.