OMG, IDK
ABOUT
PRIVACY!

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What is the right to privacy?
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Is it a term-of-art?
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Any sources that document a right of privacy?
What does the right to privacy comprise of?
Whom enforces the right to privacy?
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Citizens?
Government?
Private sector?
Whom does the right to privacy apply against?
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Citizens?
Government?
Private sector?
What activities do the right of privacy to apply?

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The right to privacy is not explicitly stated within the
U.S. Constitution
Right to privacy is an implicit/implied right formed from the guarantees listed in the:
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First Amendment – freedom of association;
Third Amendment – prohibition against quartering soldiers;
Fourth Amendment – requirements for warrants;
Fifth Amendment – self-incrimination; and,
Ninth Amendment – other powers retained by the people.

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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.

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Electronic Communications Privacy Act
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Codified in 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-22
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Stored Communications Act
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Codified 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701-12
18 U.S.C. § 2702 prevents “person or entity providing an electronic communication service [or remote computing service] to the public shall not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of a communication while in electronic storage by that service.
18 U.S.C. § 2703 permits a government entity to require disclosure by warrant if the electronic communication has been stored less than one hundred eighty (180) days and by other procedures if more than one hundred eighty (180) days.

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Sixth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
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Includes TN, KY, OH, and MI
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Warshak v. United States
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532 F.3d 521 (2008)
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“in determining the ‘reasonableness’ of searches under the Fourth Amendment and the legitimacy of citizens’ expectations of privacy, courts typically look at the ‘totality of circumstances.’” (p528)

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Ninth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
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Quon v. Arch Wireless
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529 F.3d 892 (2008) deals with the reasonableness element of Fourth Amendment
“the reasonableness of a search is determined by assessing, on the one hand, the degree to which it intrudes upon an individual’s privacy and, on the other, the degree to which it is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interest.” (p.903)

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Ninth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
Quon v. Arch Wireless (Cont.)
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“the recently minted standard of electronic communication via e-mails, text messages, and other means opens a new frontier in Fourth Amendment jurispurdence that has been little explored.” p.904
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“email . . . users have no expectation in the to/from addresses of their messages . . Because they should know that this information is provided to and used by Internet service providers for the specific purpose of directing the routing of information.” (p.905)
“however, users do have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the content of their text messages vis-à-vis the service provider.” (p.905)

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Fourth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
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Includes SC, NC, VA, WV, and MD
Van Alstyne v. Electronic Scriptorium, Ltd.
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560 F.3d 199 (2009) deals with the issue of damages for aggrieved party private cause of action where proof of actual damages is required before a court can award compensatory damages a “willful or intentional” violation of the SCA entitles the aggrieved party to punitive damages

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Content is the words, items, or images being conveyed whereas recipient is the person receiving the content.
Distinction
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If content is the desired focus then requires warrant pursuant to Fourth Amendment
If recipient is the desired focus then no warrant is necessary and information is allowed via a Pen
Register under Federal laws.
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A Pen Register is

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Roughly thirty-two (32) pages in length
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Divided into fourteen (14) Articles
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Most recent version effective as of July 1, 1971
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No right of privacy explicitly stated
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Implicit/implied right to privacy stated in Article
I of 1971 Constitution of North Carolina

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Sec. 19. Law of the land; equal protection of the laws.
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No person shall be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be subjected to discrimination by the State because of race, color, religion, or national origin.
Sec. 20. General warrants.
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General warrants, whereby any officer or other person may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of the act committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, whose offense is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are dangerous to liberty and shall not be granted.

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No North Carolina cases adjudicate issues similar to the Stored Communications Act under federal law.

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The right to privacy is a right against government-intrusion. Therefore, the right to privacy is not applicable against private companies or individuals in certain situations
Does the right of privacy apply if you send electronic communications to one person?
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What about five people?
What about everybody on your MySpace or
Facebook friends list?

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Is a person entitled to a right to privacy when he/she posts pictures or videos of himself/herself on the Internet?
Is a person possess a right to privacy when his/her MySpace, Facebook, or Youtube page is available for everyone to view?
Should colleges and employers utilize MySpace,
Facebook, and Youtube profiles when evaluating a candidate’s application?

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Sharing Your Content and Information
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You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:
For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.
When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).

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Protecting Other People's Rights
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We respect other people's rights, and expect you to do the same.
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You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else's rights or otherwise violates the law.
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We can remove any content or information you post on Facebook if we believe that it violates this Statement.
We will provide you with tools to help you protect your intellectual property rights. To learn more, visit our How to Report Claims of Intellectual Property
Infringement page.
If we remove your content for infringing someone else's copyright, and you believe we removed it by mistake, we will provide you with an opportunity to appeal.
If you repeatedly infringe other people's intellectual property rights, we will disable your account when appropriate.
You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the
Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Wall and 32665 ), or any confusingly similar marks, without our written permission.
If you collect information from users, you will: obtain their consent, make it clear you (and not Facebook) are the one collecting their information, and post a privacy policy explaining what information you collect and how you will use it.
You will not post anyone's identification documents or sensitive financial information on Facebook.

6.
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Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.com.
MySpace.com does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively,
"Content") that you post to the MySpace Services. After posting your Content to the MySpace Services, you continue to retain all ownership rights in such Content, and you continue to have the right to use your Content in any way you choose. By displaying or publishing ("posting") any
Content on or through the MySpace Services, you hereby grant to MySpace.com a limited license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on and through the MySpace Services.

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You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the
Content posted by you on or through the MySpace
Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on or through the MySpace
Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Content posted by you to or through the MySpace Services.

http://www1.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.terms
The website is listed solely because of the numerous legal disclaimers affecting privacy, ownership of copyrighted images, licenses, and etc. Please view at your convenience.

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Restrictions On Using Services
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You can't use our Services: (a) to transmit content/messages that are, or in any manner that is, illegal, fraudulent, threatening, abusive, defamatory, or obscene; (b) in a way that could cause damage or adversely affect our customers, reputation, network, property or Services; (c) to communicate any unsolicited commercial voice, text, SMS, or other message; (d) to infringe on the copyright of another, or upload or transmit any "virus," "worm," or malicious code; or (e) in any way prohibited by the terms of our Services, the
Agreement or our Policies.

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 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/sep/20/local/chi-facebook-college-20-sep20
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In a new survey, 10 percent of admissions officers from prestigious schools said they had peeked at sites like
Facebook and MySpace to evaluate college-bound seniors.
Of those using the profiles, 38 percent said it had a “negative impact” on the applicant, according to Kaplan Inc., the education services company that polled the officers.
At least one admissions officer had rescinded an offer because of an applicant’s postings, results showed. The survey went out to 500 schools—of which 320 responded— in July and August and promised anonymity.

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Wall Street Journal: Dated 09/18/08
 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122170459104151023.html
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The lack of rules is already provoking debate among admissions officers.
Some maintain that applicants' online data are public information that schools should vet to help protect the integrity of the institutions. Others say they are uncomfortable flipping through teenage Facebook pages.
Thomas Griffin, director of undergraduate admissions at North Carolina
State University in Raleigh, says the school will do an Internet search, including Facebook and other sites, if an application raises "red flags," such as a suspension from school. Mr. Griffin says several applicants a year have been rejected in part because of information on socialnetworking sites. In a recent case, the university researched a student who disclosed on his application that he had been disciplined for fighting. The school found a Facebook page with a picture of the applicant holding a gun. "We have to use this information to make the best decision for the university," Mr. Griffin says.

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New York Times: Dated 06/11/2006
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 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11recruit.html
Many companies that recruit on college campuses have been using search engines like Google and Yahoo to conduct background checks on seniors looking for their first job. But now, college career counselors and other experts say, some recruiters are looking up applicants on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, . . . where college students often post risqué or teasing photographs and provocative comments about drinking, recreational drug use and sexual [behavior] in what some mistakenly believe is relative privacy.
Students may not know when they have been passed up for an interview or a job offer because of something a recruiter saw on the Internet. But more than a dozen college career counselors said recruiters had been telling them since last fall about incidents in which students' online writing or photographs had raised serious questions about their judgment, eliminating them as job candidates.

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How do you view privacy?
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How are you habits formed by your knowledge of privacy?
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Will you change any of your habits?
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Should anything be done to federal privacy laws?
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Misc.