diff --git a/sanitiser/_private.js b/sanitiser/_private.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f419abdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sanitiser/_private.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+var isObject = require('is-object');
+var isTruthy = require('./_truthy');
+
+// validate inputs, convert types and apply defaults
+function sanitize( req, default_value ){
+
+  req.clean = req.clean || {};
+  var params= req.query;
+
+  if (default_value === undefined) {
+    default_value = true;
+  }
+
+  default_value = !!default_value;
+
+  // ensure the input params are a valid object
+  if( !isObject( params ) ){
+    params = {};
+  }
+
+  if (params.private === undefined) {
+    req.clean.private = default_value;
+  } else {
+    req.clean.private = isTruthy(params.private);
+  }
+
+  return {'error':false};
+
+}
+
+module.exports = sanitize;
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index 03960674..7b512faf 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ var tests = [
   require('./service/mget'),
   require('./service/search'),
   require('./sanitiser/_details'),
+  require('./sanitiser/_private'),
   require('./sanitiser/_source'),
   require('./sanitiser/_truthy'),
   require('./sanitiser/search'),
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/_private.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/_private.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8cebf566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/_private.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+var sanitize = require('../../../sanitiser/_private');
+
+module.exports.tests = {};
+
+module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
+  var invalid_values = [null, -1, 123, NaN, 'abc'];
+  invalid_values.forEach(function(privateValue) {
+    test('invalid private param ' + privateValue, function(t) {
+      var req = {query: { private: privateValue }};
+      sanitize(req);
+      t.equal(req.clean.private, false, 'default private set (to false)');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  var valid_values = ['true', true, 1, '1', 'yes', 'y'];
+  valid_values.forEach(function(privateValue) {
+    test('valid private param ' + privateValue, function(t) {
+      var req = {query: { private: privateValue }};
+      sanitize(req);
+      t.equal(req.clean.private, true, 'private set to true');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  var valid_false_values = ['false', false, 0, '0', 'no', 'n'];
+  valid_false_values.forEach(function(privateValue) {
+    test('test setting false explicitly ' + privateValue, function(t) {
+      var req = {query: { private: privateValue }};
+      sanitize(req);
+      t.equal(req.clean.private, false, 'private set to false');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('test default behavior', function(t) {
+    var req = {query: {}};
+    sanitize(req);
+    t.equal(req.clean.private, true, 'private set to true');
+    t.end();
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
+
+  function test(name, testFunction) {
+    return tape('SANTIZE _private ' + name, testFunction);
+  }
+
+  for( var testCase in module.exports.tests ){
+    module.exports.tests[testCase](test, common);
+  }
+};