Preview

The Right To Privacy In America

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
289 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Right To Privacy In America
The right to privacy is an important topic and it happens to be a very sensitive subject in today’s United States of America. Many consider it one of the pillars of the American society and democracy. Others treat it as a privilege, not a right, making it acceptable to forego some privacy in the name of safety and security.
The U. S. Constitution does not specifically contain any mention of the right to privacy. That being said, the Bill of Rights does contain the concerns of James Madison and other founders for the need to protect and respect citizens’ privacy. An example of this is the privacy of beliefs (1st Amendment), protection (privacy) against one’s home being used to house soldiers (3rd Amendment), privacy of the person and possessions

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “…society has come to realize that privacy is at the heart of liberty in modern state…Grounded in man’s physical and moral autonomy privacy is essential for the well being of the individual. For this reason alone, it is worthy of constitutional protection, but it also has profound significance for the public order. The restraints imposed on government to pry into the lives of the citizen go to the essence of a democratic state” (pg. 427-428).…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Private is to be closed, hidden, and to portray to be someone different or not themselves. However, even when people think that they are being private they really are not. Nothing is private in this day in time. On the contrary, In the book It’s Complicated, Danah Boyd presents one possible definition of privacy as being, “the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others” as suggested by Alan Westin (59). For instance, a person has the right to determine what kind of information is taken about them, and the purpose of that information. By having the right to privacy the government completely controls the people’s lives, and requires the…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The article, “Too Much Privacy is a Health Hazard,” by Thomas Lee, discusses the role of privacy in…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The article “Visible Man” written by Peter Singer discusses the issues that are involved with the topic of privacy. Many people feel that they are comfortable with the actions they are taking but they do not realize the information they are putting out into the real world. Singer explains how government officials use cell phone providers to gain insight on certain individuals. The idea that is stressed in this article is that too much privacy is never good, especially with government officials because the confidential information that gets leaked informs society on what it going on behind the scenes. The more information one can gather about a topic, the more informed they will be; furthermore, being well educated on a topic will allow one…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the 4th amendment, it states “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...”9 This amendment protects the right to privacy of search and seizure. Also in amendment 5, it states “no person shall be held for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury... ”10 This amendment protects the privacy not to talk, or the right to remain silent. None of these amendments including the others not stated say anything about the right to privacy, but the right broader than the actual…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    from an inadequate definition of what privacy is and the value that privacy possesses. The adherents of…

    • 2748 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Rubel, Alan. "Privacy and the USA Patriot Act: Rights, the Value of Right, and Autonomy." Law and Philosophy 26.2 (2007): 119-59. JSTOR. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .…

    • 2253 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Final English 122

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Individuals should have the right to privacy, and the right to expect the government to uphold that right. The government should hold no explicit view on privacy as a separate issue, but uphold for each individual person, such as the right to freedom of speech, the right to vote, the right to hold assembly, the right to bear arms, and the right to worship in the way in which he chooses imply, and demand that each individuals privacy be upheld and respected.…

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Furthermore, many Americans believed that an essential function of a Democracy was to provide citizens with the right to privacy. Unlike a Communist dictatorship, Democracy in America promised citizens the freedom of self-determination. The ever-elusive “American Dream” was thought to be the ultimate culmination of an autonomous life, and this was most often represented in the ideals of the nuclear family and the home. However, this idea that one could – and must – work toward this goal also required a right to privacy, or a right to determine one’s life without influence or scrutiny from the outside. In her article, “Beyond Privacy: Confessions between a Woman and Her Doctor”, Deborah Nelson…

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Privacy is Utterly Dead Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor at Princeton University and the University of Melbourne that studies Bioethics, Philosophy and Public Ethics. His essay “Visible Man: Ethics in a World without Secrets” focuses on transparency and personal privacy. One can see after reading this essay, Singer is in favor of openness, but he also notes that the government misuses these technologies by having sousveillance and surveillance cameras. A person needs to understand how privacy, surveillance and sousveillance is defined to understand why he was in favor of openness.…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Griswald case involved a bizarre law that forbade the use of condoms in the…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The fourth amendment states that unreasonable searches or seizures are prohibited unless they have a warrant. the fourth amendment grew directly out o the colonists experience of unreasonable searches of there privacy and personal property. Even the king did not have the authority to search his peoples homes although government agents were allowed to search homes if the reason was lawful and they had a warrant. My family thinks this amendment is very important because of whats happening right now with the internet and individual surveillance. its more important than ever. The controversy is that the NSA and commercial (i.e. google) surveillance are eroding our privacy. I think the whole thing with the NSA seeing our emails is really creepy.…

    • 146 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Privacy is a fundamental moral right in a democratic society. It is the right bestowed upon individuals that strengthen the freedoms of speech, press, association, and assembly which are crucial for a free, democratic society. However, advancement in technology threatens privacy and autonomy which reduces the control over private data and exposes individuals to undesirable consequences. Thus, a loss of privacy leads to a loss of an individual’s freedom in society.…

    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Privacy Issues

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Amendment I: Privacy of Beliefs, Amendment III: Privacy of the Home, Amendment IV: Privacy of the Person and Possessions and Liberty Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which states that no State shall... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. These are your basic privacy rights stated under the U.S. Bill of Rights. However there are other Acts, types of privacy and cases that have supported and influenced these rights. Examples of these would be The Privacy Act of 1974, The Freedom of Information Act, and Bond v. United States and Beck v. Ohio.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Fourth Amendment protects us citizens from the searching of our homes and private property without properly executed search warrants. If law enforcement wants to collect these records such as GPS tracking or cell phone tracking, they will need a search warrant based on probable cause. This constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment because it violates the individuals reasonable expectation of privacy. You would think that your location would be private and expect it to remain private, but that is not the case. When law enforcement seeks the cell phone location and this individual is inside his or her house, they cross the line by learning facts about the interior of the home, which is clearly illegal without a warrant. Let's say the…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays