Invasion of Privacy--Has Cyber-Technology Made Privacy a Thing of the Past?
Valarie Arrington-Steele
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For this segment of the unit you will need to review or teach students about the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. It is important that you stress that although it does not grant a right to privacy, the Supreme Court has over the years interpreted various aspects of it to protect individual privacy based on changing social values, societal beliefs, and changing technology. Have students understand why the Fourth Amendment was written by providing them with a short history of the public sector’s need to be protected from government intrusion. To improve their reading skills have students read court cases that led to the various interpretations of privacy as it applies to this amendment as well as the legislation that has been passed to protect their privacy. To improve their thinking and reasoning skills, ask students for their opinions. Did they agree or disagree with the court decisions and why. Since the government has passed some laws on information privacy, you will need to explain to the students why it is in favor of self-regulation of Big Business on the Internet. You may want to review with them certain segments of the Clinton/Gore report and the Privacy Work Group “Principles”. To improve their writing, reading, thinking, reasoning and research skills, have students write a paper. Possible topics: (1) Describe the application of the protections in the Fourth Amendment to modern information technology. (2) Describe the application of constitutional values and the argument for maintaining their integrity in confronting changes in technological capabilities. (3) Is self-regulation of Big Business on the Internet working in favor of the consumer as it relates to disclosure and consent?