Privacy Concerns From Wiretapping to Status Updates

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Hodge, Matthew J. "The Fourth Amendment and privacy issues on the "new" internet: Facebook.com and MySpace.com.." Southern Illinois University Law Journal 31 (2006): 95-122

In his article Matthew J. Hodge takes examines the booming popularity of social networking sites and the possible implications they have when considering fourth amendment rights. He begins by giving an example of how nearly 50 men were identified after a post football game riot. On the day of the game only two men were arrested due to a small police presence, the rest of the men were later identified through the social networking site Facebook. Hodge then gives a brief overview of the history and features of Facebook as well as its main competitor MySpace. While both sites are based around social networks one of the early differences was that MySpace pages were once open to all users whereas, Facebook pages required the approval of the pages creator to gain access. Hodge also goes into detail in regard to the “terms of use” that the user has to consent to before they are allowed to activate an account. These terms can include how and when the Web sites may collect information from a user’s profile and computer, how the Web sites track a user’s usage, and how they use the information collected from a user’s profile. The terms also detail how the social networking sites can disclose information to a third party. Hodge then introduces the Katz Standard of the Forth Amendment whereby the Supreme Court incorporated the two-step reasonableness standard for searches and seizures. Hodge quotes Justice Harlan “there is a twofold requirement, first, that a person have exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy and, second, that the expectation be one that society is prepared to recognize as ‘reasonable.” This interpretation of the forth amendment is at odds the assumptions of people who use sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and Hodge goes into detail examining subsequent supreme court cases. Hodge then compares the two aforementioned sites first by their default(or pubic) settings and then by the adjusted (private) through the filter of a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” Hodge closes by presenting his findings based on the various privacy settings as well as the apparent loopholes law enforcement can exploit.

If a person were to be doing research as to whether social networking sites should be trusted with their user’s personal information, the article referred to above by Matthew J Hodge would be an invaluable resource to consult because it takes the very pertinent issue of the fourth amendment and the user’s assumed online anonymity, and presents the legal issues in a clear manner. Hodge takes a methodical approach to evaluate to legal aspects of social networking sites that many of the users of these sites are completely unaware of. Hodge examines the legal basis by which a police officer can access a user’s personal page and he also gives a unique perspective by detailing how the Supreme Courts has had various interpretations of a “reasonable expectation of privacy” over the past 60 years and how various technologies have been reclassified to fit to the traditional definition. Hodges work also examines how the application of “privacy laws” can cause unexpected consequences for social network users who assume their accounts are completely private. It is through this methodical and thorough approach that Hodge’s article would be useful to a person wanting to more about the legal limitations or the lack thereof on personal data on social networking sites. The piece would also be beneficial to those wanting to answer the question above because it asserts that online social network users are continuing to assume that their online activity is somehow “off the radar” and therefore private. As the popularity of these sites continue to grow it is important for users to be aware of what of the possible. At this time in the history of online social networks Hodges article matters because it identifies how the use of these networks has challenged traditional views on internet anonymity. The article is also important to consult as a research tool as it gives the clear legal guidelines for privacy based on the 4th Amendment. Understanding these guidelines is essential in the question raised above, because knowing the extent of the actions the government can take will have a definite impact on how one answers that question.