Introduction: The concept of privacy is complex, particularly in a profession such as occupational therapy which processes vast amounts of personal information to ensure client-centred rehabilitation to return to prized occupations. Privacy is becoming increasingly important through continued codification worldwide, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations and the South African Protection of Personal Information Act. During training, occupational therapy students must process clients’ information in compliance with this legislation.
Objectives: To synthesise the privacy-related literature to define types and dimensions of privacy for concept clarity.
Methods: A rapid review of two purposefully selected databases was conducted, using the search string (type OR typology OR taxonomy OR dimension) AND (privacy). One reviewer performed the review, assisted by an artificial intelligence platform, ASReview. English papers published in peer-reviewed journals describing types of privacy, or a typology or a taxonomy or the dimensions of privacy were included. Papers reviewing another typology/types/taxonomy/dimensions of privacy without putting forward its own, were excluded. A Prisma checklist was used to ensure rigour in the project.
Results: The initial searches of the databases returned 2608 results. After duplicates were removed, 1000 papers were screened using ASReview. Nine types of privacy were synthesized over four dimensions of privacy.
Conclusion / Contribution to the occupational therapy profession: Understanding the types and dimensions of privacy assists occupational therapy educators to guide students to identify pertinent information they need to design appropriate interventions for their clients, in so doing adhering to the data minimisation principle in data privacy legislation.