The Open Door Policy
When you have little kids in your home privacy is not something you get much of, especially if you are the mama. Our bathroom door is rarely closed, and if it is, that probably means one of the Darlings is up to no good.
If I shut a door in our home it seems to act as a beacon, calling to the Darlings to stop whatever they are doing, approach the closed door and yell, pound, push toys under, cry, jab fingers and toes under and generally have a fit. I end up getting less privacy with closed doors at our house. It leaves me feeling exposed and weary; never quite getting "alone time" at home.
Need for Privacy
Privacy is something each of us craves starting from a very young age. Some may need more privacy than others, but everyone does require it in some amount. This could mean actual physical privacy to attend to private matters or collect one's thoughts or pray or read or make a phone call, etc.; or the privacy could regard information, accounts, records and documents. Either way, we, the citizens of the United States of America, expect privacy in our lives.
In comparison to the rest of the world, the U.S. affords quite a bit of privacy to its citizens. Of course, over the years our rights to privacy have been diminishing thanks in large part to the Internet, societal habits and terrorism. We have accepted the long lines at airport security, the never-ending list of passwords, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and other semi-invasive measures in order to protect the majority of our privacies and freedoms.
Protected Rights
While the U.S. Constitution does not specifically provide for any right to privacy, the Bill of Rights does include rights to privacy: the 1st Amendment protects specific personal issues, including privacy of beliefs, the 3rd Amendment grants privacy in the home, protecting against soldiers being housed in one's home, the 4th Amendment ensures privacy of one's body and property, guaranteeing no unreasonable searches and the 5th Amendment protects one's private information, guarding against self-incrimination.
Various state and federal laws also ensure privacy rights such as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Additionally, the Privacy Act of 1974 protects privacy rights through "the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies." Source: Wikipedia.com
Invasion of Privacy
The term "invasion of privacy" is a tort, or civil wrong, and includes four types of wrongs. These are causes of action for which someone who feels he or she has suffered from an invasion of privacy can file a lawsuit against another:
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Intrusion of solitude and seclusion. Intrusion of solitude is when one person exposes another person to unwarranted publicity. Intrusion of seclusion happens when a person physically, electronically or by other method interferes with the private affairs or space of another;
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Public Disclosure. This type of invasion of privacy occurs when a person exposes private information to the public when such exposure would offend a reasonable person;
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False Light. False light is similar to defamation. Here, a non-public person's private information is revealed, which puts that person in a false light. Generally, this involves information that is highly offensive and embarrassing to a reasonable person;
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Appropriation of name or likeness. This invasion of privacy occurs when a person uses the name or likeness of another for his advantage and/or monetary gain.
Other, more controversial rights to privacy include the right to an abortion, the right to marry and the right to die. At some point I'm sure I'll cover each of these subjects too.
The Scoop
As stated in Article 2, §10 of the Montana Constitution, "The right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest." We must carefully guard our rights of privacy, in regards to our homes, our persons and our information. Over and out...
Anna
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