Legal Definitions - privacy law

Privacy law refers to the body of legal rules and principles, established through federal and state statutes or court decisions, that protect an individual's right to control their personal information and to be free from unwanted intrusion into their private life. It also encompasses the field of legal study dedicated to understanding and enforcing these rights.

Here are some examples illustrating how privacy law applies:

• Online Data Protection: Imagine a social media company that collects vast amounts of data about its users' online activities, including their browsing history and purchase habits, and then sells this information to third-party advertisers without clearly informing users or obtaining their explicit consent.

  This scenario demonstrates privacy law because statutes like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) or similar state-level data protection laws would govern how this company must handle personal data. These laws aim to restrict unauthorized access to or commercial exploitation of an individual's digital footprint, ensuring people have control over who sees and uses their online information.

• Workplace Monitoring: Consider a situation where an employer installs surveillance cameras in employee locker rooms or monitors private messages sent by employees on their personal devices while at work, without any prior notification or legitimate business reason.

  Privacy laws, often derived from state statutes or common law principles, would likely limit an employer's ability to conduct such intrusive surveillance. These laws protect an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy, even in a workplace setting, by restricting unwarranted intrusion into their personal space or communications.

• Government Access to Personal Records: Suppose a local government agency requests access to a citizen's financial transaction history from their bank without a court order or other legal justification.

  This illustrates privacy law because federal statutes like the Right to Financial Privacy Act would typically require a specific legal process, such as a subpoena or warrant, for a government entity to access an individual's private financial records. This demonstrates how privacy law restricts public (including governmental) access to sensitive personal information, upholding the individual's right to control who sees their private data.