Paul Engel, The Constitution clearly does protect the right to privacy. Re:
<<Bill of rights Article the sixth
[Amendment IV] (of the Constitution)
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. >>
There are numerous court cases in which the Constitutional right to privacy have been cited. Of interest here may be the case of the State of California vs. The FCC regarding caller-ID issues.
<<State of California v. the FCC (No. 94-70197 - FCC No. 94-59 )
C. The FCC's Preemption Of The CPUC Does Not Implicate Constitutional Privacy Rights
CPUC argues that the FCC's preemption of the CPUC's per line blocking default "violates the federal constitutional privacy rights of California citizens." (CPUC Brief at p. 29). CPUC has not cited any authority to support the notion that a telephone
number is protected by the federal constitution. The Supreme Court has noted that "exposure of the self to others in varying degrees is a concomitant of life in a civilized society." Time Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374 (1967). Not every "exposure" raises
privacy concerns under the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court has limited the constitutional right to privacy to interferences with "a person's most basic decisions about family and parenthood . . . as well as bodily integrity." Planned Parenthood v. Casey, __ U.S. __, 112 S. Ct. 2791, 2806 (1992). A phone number is not among the select privacy interests protected by a federal constitutional right to privacy. [FOOTNOTE 12] In Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (1979), the United States Supreme Court held that there is no Fourth Amendment right to prevent the disclosure of the telephone numbers dialed from a home telephone. The Court explained: >>
Note the reference to the fourth Amendment.
This is an interesting case since it involves transmittal of the caller's ID. Are there similarities to the transmission of a PSN? Transmission of the PSN seem's to have many more implications than the transmission of a phone number.
At any rate, it will be interesting to watch this controversy over time.
Gene |
