“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Americans say often enough, “I am entitled to my privacy.” But in fact privacy is a funny thing. No where in the U.S. Constitution is the word privacy used. The government of the United States has provided for our privacy without actually saying the word “privacy” in the Constitution. United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis explained a person’s right to privacy as “the right to be let alone.” As Americans, we believe our own personal business should remain just that, our own personal business.
When you begin to think about privacy, what information about yourself is actually private? You might find that there is more available information about you out “there” than you think.
Answer the following questions:
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What personal information about yourself do you believe to be private?
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What do you, a private citizen, do if your privacy has been violated?
What is privacy? Privacy is the right to keep some information about you secret. The Supreme Court states that we are entitled to a reasonable “expectation of privacy” (Katz v. U. S., 389 U.S. 347,350 1967). What exactly does this mean? It may mean different things to different people. What is reasonable to one person may not be reasonable to another, based on their beliefs and life experiences.
Does everyone have an equal right to privacy? The answer to this question is, no. People who are considered “public figures” or newsmakers, including politicians, movie stars or just people who have made the news in some way, are not entitled to the same privacy as an ordinary citizen. In other words, they do not have the same reasonable “expectation to privacy.”