|
|
Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| ==History== | | ==History== |
| ===What is the oldest source in any country that mentions this right?=== | | ===What is the oldest source in any country that mentions this right?=== |
| | Most sources say that the first mention of this right is The Right to Privacy written by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis and published in the Harvard Law Review in 1890. Both were Boston attorneys and Brandeis would go on to serve as a United States Supreme Court Justice for 23 years (Louis Brandeis, n.d.). In this essay, they note that the legal scope of rights broadens over time and posit that the right to life has expanded to “the right to be let alone,” which had become an increasingly difficult feat with new technologies (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 193, 195). |
| | |
| | Warren and Brandeis (1890) acknowledge that, at the time, there was little-to-no legal protection of this right. They look at defamation law and determine while it alludes to privacy law, there are limitations to privacy protection from this area of law as it only considers a damaged reputation, not instances in which an individual wishes something remained secret (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 197; Bycer, 2014). They also looked at copywriting and publishing law, which only applies to one’s own work (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 199). They determine that the right to privacy can extend beyond these areas of law as the right should be able to wholly prevent the depiction of private life (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 218). In the last part of this essay, they set out limitations to the right of privacy – privileged information remains under defamation law (to allow for the operation of courts), privacy ceases with consent to publish, gossip is not in the realm of privacy law, and intention and truth do not prevent a breach of such right. |
| | |
| | However, Warren and Brandeis cite at least two instances that predate The Right to Privacy which discuss the right to privacy. The earliest is the citing of an 1820 statement from Lord Cottenham, who, in agreement with Lord Eldon, felt that were a king’s illnesses recorded by a doctor and published while that king was still alive, a court would not permit its publishing, as he claimed this circumstance would breach the king’s privacy (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 205; Bycer, 2014). Additionally, they acknowledge that the right to privacy has already been regulated in France since 1868. Section 11 of the 1868 Loi Relative à la Presse (Press Law) says that all periodic writings about a private fact of life are violations punishable by a fine of 500 francs. Pursuit of the violation may only be undertaken by the affected party (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 214, footnote 1). |
| | |
| | |
| | Resources |
| | |
| | Bycer, M. (2014). Understanding the 1890 Warren and Brandeis “The Right to Privacy” Article. National Juris University. Retrieved Sept. 10, 2021, from https://nationalparalegal.edu/UnderstandingWarrenBrandeis.aspx |
| | Louis Brandeis. (2020, Nov. 9). Britannica. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Brandeis |
| | Warren, S. & Brandeis, L. (1890, Dec. 15). The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review 4(5), 193-220. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-811X%2818901215%294%3A5%3C193%3ATRTP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C |
| | |
| ===What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right? BUILD IN COLLAPSE EXPAND TOGGLE=== | | ===What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right? BUILD IN COLLAPSE EXPAND TOGGLE=== |
| ====Afghanistan==== | | ====Afghanistan==== |
History
What is the oldest source in any country that mentions this right?
Most sources say that the first mention of this right is The Right to Privacy written by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis and published in the Harvard Law Review in 1890. Both were Boston attorneys and Brandeis would go on to serve as a United States Supreme Court Justice for 23 years (Louis Brandeis, n.d.). In this essay, they note that the legal scope of rights broadens over time and posit that the right to life has expanded to “the right to be let alone,” which had become an increasingly difficult feat with new technologies (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 193, 195).
Warren and Brandeis (1890) acknowledge that, at the time, there was little-to-no legal protection of this right. They look at defamation law and determine while it alludes to privacy law, there are limitations to privacy protection from this area of law as it only considers a damaged reputation, not instances in which an individual wishes something remained secret (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 197; Bycer, 2014). They also looked at copywriting and publishing law, which only applies to one’s own work (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 199). They determine that the right to privacy can extend beyond these areas of law as the right should be able to wholly prevent the depiction of private life (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 218). In the last part of this essay, they set out limitations to the right of privacy – privileged information remains under defamation law (to allow for the operation of courts), privacy ceases with consent to publish, gossip is not in the realm of privacy law, and intention and truth do not prevent a breach of such right.
However, Warren and Brandeis cite at least two instances that predate The Right to Privacy which discuss the right to privacy. The earliest is the citing of an 1820 statement from Lord Cottenham, who, in agreement with Lord Eldon, felt that were a king’s illnesses recorded by a doctor and published while that king was still alive, a court would not permit its publishing, as he claimed this circumstance would breach the king’s privacy (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 205; Bycer, 2014). Additionally, they acknowledge that the right to privacy has already been regulated in France since 1868. Section 11 of the 1868 Loi Relative à la Presse (Press Law) says that all periodic writings about a private fact of life are violations punishable by a fine of 500 francs. Pursuit of the violation may only be undertaken by the affected party (Warren & Brandeis, 1890, 214, footnote 1).
Resources
Bycer, M. (2014). Understanding the 1890 Warren and Brandeis “The Right to Privacy” Article. National Juris University. Retrieved Sept. 10, 2021, from https://nationalparalegal.edu/UnderstandingWarrenBrandeis.aspx
Louis Brandeis. (2020, Nov. 9). Britannica. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Brandeis
Warren, S. & Brandeis, L. (1890, Dec. 15). The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review 4(5), 193-220. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-811X%2818901215%294%3A5%3C193%3ATRTP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C
What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right? BUILD IN COLLAPSE EXPAND TOGGLE
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
The Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
The Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Republic of Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Federated States of Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Kingdom of the Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Is there another noteworthy written source from the past that mentions this right?
Is the identification of this right associated with a particular era in history, political regime, or political leader?
What specific events or ideas contributed to its identification as a fundamental right?
When was it generally accepted as a fundamental, legally-protectable right?
What historical forces or events, if any, contributed to a widespread belief in its importance?
Legal Codification
Is this right protected in the Constitutions of most countries today?
Is it contained in the US Constitution?
Has it been interpreted as being implicit in the US Constitution?
Are there any exceptions in American law to this right?
Is this right enshrined in international and regional human rights treaties?
Philosophical Origins
What have religious and philosophical traditions contributed to our understanding of this right?
Buddhism
Platonism
Aristotelian thought
Ancient Chinese Philosophy
Stoicism
Early Indian Philosophy
Miscellaneous Hellenistic Schools (epicureans, academics, skeptics, etc.)
Roman Legal and Political Thought
Early Christianity
Thomism and medieval Christianity
Medieval Islamic Thought
Medieval Judaism
Early Modern Rationalism
Absolute Idealism
Reformation Christianity
Hobbesian Thought
Lockean Thought/English Empiricism
Physiocrats
Scottish Enlightenment
Modern Capitalism
Rousseau's Thought
Kantianism
German Idealism
Benthamite Utilitarianism
Millian Utilitarianism
Current Utilitarianism
Transcendentalism
Marxism
Early Sociology
Pragmatism
Weberian Thought
Process Philosophy
Social Darwinism
British Idealism (19th cen.)
Continental Philosophy/Frankfurt School
Behaviorism
Feminist Thought
Postmodernism
Are there any philosophical or moral traditions that dispute the classification of this right as a fundamental right?
What do the major legal theories (positive law, natural law, critical legal studies, etc.) say about this right?
Culture and Politics
Is this right interpreted and exercised in different ways in different countries? Focus on particular countries in which the right is interpreted distinctively
Is this right exercised in different ways depending on the political governance regime in place (democracy, autocracy, hybrid regime)?
Is there general and widespread belief that this right is a fundamental right that should generally be protected (and that exceptions should be rare)?
Does public polling reveal insights about the right as experienced in different countries?
Conflicts with other Rights
Are there other specific fundamental rights that tend to conflict with this right? Can you identify specific examples of this?
Are there other specific rights that are critical to the exercise of this right? Can you identify specific examples of this?
Is there a perception that this right is above or higher than other fundamental rights, or in general, that it has a particular place in a hierarchy of rights?
What specific examples of hierarchies, manifestos, constitutions, or prioritized descriptions of rights cite this right’s high status? Low status? No status at all?
How does federalism change, if at all, the exercise or application of this right? What examples of this can one point to?
Limitations / Restrictions
What are the typical exceptions or limitations placed on this right?
Under American jurisprudence, what permissible exceptions exist?
Under international human rights laws, what permissible exceptions (often called derogations) exist?
Have political theorists or philosophers discussed the permissibility of exceptions to this right?
Should this right be limited when limiting it would jeopardize democratic norms?
Is this right often perceived as threatening to government authorities?
Is this right often curtailed by government authorities for reasons other than those which are generally viewed as permissible?
Is this right at times curtailed by private actors?
Is this right subject to specific limitations in event of emergency (war, brief natural disaster [weather, earthquake], long-run natural disaster [volcano, fire, disease])? Can such limitations be defined in advance with reference to the disaster in question?
Utilitarian / Fairness Assessments
Is there a cost attached to protecting and enforcing this right? What kinds of costs are implicated?
Short-term economic cost in general
Long-term economic cost in general
Cost to those least able to economically absorb the cost
Cost to perceived democratic legitimacy
Cost to consistency or coherence of the law as a whole
Cost to the legitimacy or effectiveness of other rights
Cost to considerations of social equality
Cost to other non-material goods not so far specified
What are the financial consequences, if any, of making this right a legally protectable right?
Are there any groups that are uniquely disadvantaged by the exercise of this right?
Are there any groups that uniquely benefit from the exercise of this right?
Are there instances when this fundamental right can lead to unfairness or inequities?
Are there objective ways to measure the utilitarian nature of this right?
If so, where can one draw the line: when does this right stop being useful or economically viable?
Looking Ahead
How can we expect this right to change and evolve in the years ahead?
How is the future likely to shape the exercise of this right?
Will the exercise or protection of this right be affected by technological changes?
Under what conditions would this right become irrelevant?
Are questions of fairness and utility pertaining to this right likely to change in the years ahead?
Policy Recommendations
Can the practice or exercise of this right be shaped through executive action?
In the US context, are there particular parties with a stake or interest in amending or reconceptualizing this right?
In the US context, can this right be altered legislatively, or would it require a constitutional amendment?
Is this right best addressed at the national level? The sub-national level? The international level?
To what extent is this right shaped primarily by judicial decisions?
If this right is best addressed through the amendment process, how should it proceed?
If this right were unlimited, what might be the consequences (positive and negative)?
If this right were eliminated, what might be the consequences (positive and negative)?