Privacy Rights and The United States Constitution
POL303: The American Constitution
Instructor: Alexander Cohen
December 8, 2014
Privacy Rights and The United States Constitution
The founding fathers of the United States of America fought hard to achieve an independent nation. An independent nation containing freedoms and rights for citizens that only the constitution can guarantee. One of the crucial rights guaranteed to U.S citizens today is the right to privacy, or the right to be left alone according to Brandeis and Warren. The right to privacy is not specifically mentioned in the constitution, it is however mentioned in the bill of rights. The bill of rights is the first ten amendments of the constitution, which protects many civil rights and liberties of all U.S citizens. The debate today is whether the constitution protects the privacy of citizens from being regulated and invaded by federalism.
Privacy is defined and interpreted differently depending on the person or persons involved. The one thing that is agreed upon is that privacy in all forms is a right and shall receive equal protection for all people under the laws of the constitution. This includes the right to our personal affairs to be let alone, financials, medical records, opinions, privacy of worship, privacy in our homes and intimate interactions. However right to privacy extends far beyond our personal lives and information being left alone and out of the public eye. In the past privacy was not something that was thought of so often, the most common forms of privacy invasion was trespassing onto private property and snooping. Today with the new technologies there is a lot more to worry about. All in all the government cannot be forgotten, as the government too breaches personal privacy.
As stated above the Constitution does not specifically mention that right for citizens to have privacy. It is however stated in the Bill of Rights four different accounts, pertaining to...