State the four types of invasion of privacy torts.

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State the four types of invasion of privacy torts. 

An invasion of privacy occurs when there is an intrusion upon your reasonable expectation to be left. In the American Justice System there are four types of privacy tort they are as follows.

Unreasonable intrusion upon another's privacy

This tort creates liability for intentional intrusion in another's private affairs if the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. Intrusion is a claim often based on the act of news gathering. A reporter can be sued even when the information obtained is never published. It occurs when a reporter gathers information about a person in a place where that person has a reasonable right to expect privacy.

A man with binoculars regularly climbs a tree in his yard and watches a woman across the street undress through her bathroom window. Her injury is the emotional distress she suffers upon seeing the perpetrator looking at her (FindLaw, n.d.).

Commercial Appropriation of Name or Likeness

This is the most common privacy tort. It involves use of someone's name or likeness for commercial benefit. Plaintiffs may make a claim for damages if any one uses their name or likeness for benefit without the other party's permission. Usually this involves a business using a celebrity's name or likeness in an advertisement. But it doesn't involve accidental use of other name and if there is no any hidden benefit.

For example, a woman about to deliver a baby via caesarian section agrees to allow the operation to be filmed for educational purposes only; but instead it is shown to the public in a commercial theater. This is an invasion of her privacy. (FindLaw, n.d.)

Unreasonable publicity given to another's private life

This tort involves publicity concerning someone's private life if it would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and it is not of legitimate concern to the public. Courts have recognized that certain intimate details about people, even though true, may be "off limits" to the press and public.

Publicity placing another in a false light before the public.

A false light claim is similar to a defamation claim in that it allows an individual to sue for the public disclosure of information that is misleading (or puts that person in a "false light"), but not technically false. Because it so closely parallels defamation, false light is the most controversial privacy tort. The key difference is that defamation claims only apply to the public broadcasting of false information; and as with defamation, sometimes First Amendment protections prevail.

Generally, a false light claim must contain the following elements:

(1) a publication by the defendant about the plaintiff; (2) it was done with reckless disregard; (3) it places the plaintiff in a false light and (4) it would be highly offensive or embarrassing to a reasonable person.

 

References

Cheeseman, H. R. (2006). Torts and Privacy. In Contemporary Business and Online Commerce Law (5th edi). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person Education Inc.

FindLaw. (n.d.). Invasion of Privacy. Retrieved from http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/invasion-of-privacy.html

Student press Law Center. (2011). SPLC Legal Brief: invasion of privacy law. Retrieved from http://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=29