Introduction: A prolegomenon to privacy : on the potential virtues and benefits of a comparative legal analysis of the right to be left alone -- The United States: The polysemy of privacy : an analysis of the many faces and facets of the right of privacy in the contemporary United States -- Canada: Privacy in Canada : taming a notoriously protean legal concept with a coherent and purposive approach -- The Republic of South Africa: Privacy in South Africa : deploying dignity, equality, and freedom to safeguard the process of democratic self-government -- The United Kingdom: Privacy in the United Kingdom : on the perils and promise of weak-form judicial review in securing privacy rights -- The European Court of Human Rights: Privacy rights in Europe : reconciling privacy and speech in the era of big data -- Conclusion: Bringing Meiklejohn to privacy : on the essential complementarity of privacy and speech