The Information Age: An Exploitation of Privacy.
Personal privacy and the right to personal privacy have not always been sought after individuals. The concept of having privacy in one's personal life is a relatively new concept and one that has strong roots in early American settlements. According to the Encyclopedia of Social History, the exact origins of the expectation and longing of individual privacy are unclear but key factors include the "waning power of community and, later, the reformation of family as a collection of individuals" (580). Privacy between family members may have contributed to the original concerns over privacy but more modern feelings over privacy issues tend to revolve around the privacy of an individual's home and also privacy from their government. In the 1920's "privacy was defined by U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brandeis as "the right to be left alone"" (Gottfried 9). Ever since Americans have wanted and fought for this "right to be left alone" in hopes of gaining personal privacy from their government as well as individuals who have been gathering information on millions of American citizens for years. Americans have now come to want and expect privacy in their personal lives. Many aspects of day-to-day life in America however, are anything but private due to new laws that allow government agencies as well as private citizens to track individuals using high tech equipment. This invasion of privacy needs to be reevaluated to determine if the extremes being used are indeed beneficial to all Americans. .
People who oppose more laws protecting the privacy of individuals most often turn to the Constitution for support of their opinion. They point out "privacy is not specifically safeguarded by the Bill of Rights or any other part of the Constitution" (Gottfried 9). Because it is not specifically mentioned in our country's constitution they believe that the right to personal privacy should not exist in the United States.