From Pay Phones to Smart Phones: How Technology Impacts the Legal Test of Privacy

• In Event: Issues Regarding Privacy, Technology, Torture, and Terrorism

Abstract

In 1967 the U.S. Supreme Court established a two-prong test for determining when government/law enforcement needs a warrant or probable cause to invade a person’s zone of privacy: (1) Does the person have an actual expectation of privacy in the activity (subjective)? (2) Is the subjective expectation reasonable; that is, is it an expectation society is prepared to recognize as reasonable (objective)? This paper explores how changing technology has affected Court applications of this test and the extent to which social media usage impacts people’s expectations of privacy.

Authors

• Jeffry Stockner, Tiffin University

• Steven Hurwitz, Tiffin University