September 24, 2012
Royal Photos Shine Light on Privacy Concerns
As far as I know, no paparazzi has ever caught me in a compromising photo. Well, there is one of me shaving my legs before qualifying for Nationals at the 1985 North Central Conference swimming championships. It surfaced on Facebook 25 years later (thanks to one of my fun-loving teammates!), but my Gillette moment has obviously never drawn the kind of attention that two royals frolicking on a balcony in France get.
Me, prepping for NCC Swimming Championships (spring, 1985).
The whole Kate and William thing shines new light on an old problem: the blurred line between a person’s public life and private life. So, just what are a person’s rights when that line is crossed?
Minnesota recognizes three distinct claims for invasion of privacy: intrusion upon seclusion, misappropriation of another’s likeness, and publication of private facts. The Minnesota Supreme Court recognized these three separate claims in the 1998 case of Lake v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In that case, the Court differentiated between the three claims as follows:
Intrusion upon seclusion occurs when one intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns if the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.
Misappropriation protects an individual’s identity and is committed when one appropriates to his own use or benefit the name or likeness of another.
Publication of private facts is an invasion of privacy when one gives publicity to a matter concerning the private life of another if the matter publicized is of a kind that (a) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and (b) is not of legitimate concern to the public.
For the most part, the issue is the same as it has always been: people have a right to live their private lives, to not have others misappropriate their identities, and to not have private aspects of their lives made public. But what has changed is the ease with which these rights can be violated. Sophisticated, yet accessible, technology makes it easy to gather information about others. And, with a few clicks of a mouse, that information can be shared with the world.
The workplace presents special privacy challenges. Employers have a need to know about the people they hire and employ, so they want to gather information about those employees. Employers also need to make sure their computers, websites, e-mail and other technologies are being used appropriately, so they may want to monitor their employees’ use of these technologies. And, once sensitive information is learned, employers are challenged to make sure it is not used or shared inappropriately.
What you need to know: To minimize the risk of being held liable for invasion of privacy, employers need to develop policies and procedures that strike a balance between their need to gather and use relevant information about employees and their employees’ privacy rights. This is particularly true with respect to technology and social media policies.
For more information about this article, please contact me at taj@alexandriamnlaw.com.
Copyright 2012 Swenson Lervick Syverson Trosvig Jacobson Schultz, PA
Human Resource Legal Resource 