Altman, like Westin, has influenced how we understand privacy. Altman’s analysis
of privacy focuses on individual and group privacy and behavior (i.e., privacyregulating
mechanisms) operating as a coherent system. He takes a dynamic and a
dialectical perspective on privacy regulation (i.e., it is a process that paces and
regulates interaction with others; we change how open or closed we are in response
to changes in our internal states and external conditions) (Altman 1990; Margulis 1977). Because Altman is a social and an environmental psychologist, social interaction is at the heart of his theory and Altman uses the environment to provide mechanisms for regulating privacy.