is a right to privacy a thing of the past???

February 23rd, 2009

Until now, I’ve have only shared my thoughts on the Chris Brown & Rihanna situation with close friends, but this weekend’s over the top sensationalism on the matter sparked a bigger thought for me….in today’s world, do we have a right to privacy?

It all kick off on Friday while watching of all things my beloved Oprah.  And yes, I watch Oprah from time to time and I hope my following thoughts don’t prevent me from appearing on her show in the future (wink, wink).  But in any case, I was a little thrown back when she not only broadcasted the picture of Rihanna, but credited TMZ as the source.  TMZ’s whole claim to fame is based on evading one’s privacy, and her show having the brand which it does only validates their values.  I know as well as equally expect her to be a strong supporter of women’s rights, but I strongly feel that Rihanna’s rights to privacy was sacrificed for reasons beyond my understanding.  The picture was clearly not something meant for public viewing and the mere fact that the police are now investigating on how it was leaked proves the point even more.

Secondly, I think it was a half hour TV special on one of the MTV channels detailing all the Chris Brown & Rihanna events up to date.  Although I do give MTV props on stating on air that they would not be displaying the picture in respect of Rhianna’s privacy, they still talked about it which I think is just the lesser of the two evils.  There has to be better content to air.  (Sidebar: I really like T.I.’s show “Road To Redemption”, all though we should be making those type of decisions prior to getting in trouble…but I guess hind site will always be 20/20.)

But back to my point of privacy.  I remember an article last year about Google being sued by a Pittsburgh couple for posting images of its house on the Internet in Google’s Street Views pages.  Google responded, in court no less, that complete privacy simply doesn’t exist in today’s world and the couple should stop crying about it.  One of thier points filed with the court was, “Today’s satellite image technology means that even in today’s desert, complete privacy does not exist.”  I’m not sure if Google won their case, but their point was made.

So with the means and values of TMZ being validated by the mainstream media as well as Google’s point in court, I ask you again…in today’s world, do we have a right to privacy?

Entry Filed under: The Thinker's Thoughts