Podcast: Online privacy for public figures in the social media age
Do current laws give public figures and private people adequate protection from online hackers who post content on websites?
The media uproar over a massive leak of celebrity photos is putting a new focus on several interesting legal questions about online privacy for the rich and famous in the 21st century.
Last Sunday, hackers posted unauthorized photos of celebrities, in various states of dress, on a website called 4chan that specializes in posting shocking images. The photos were appropriated from cellphone and mobile accounts. Some of the victims said their information was stored on Apple’s iCloud service; Apple quickly said it couldn’t easily protect users who didn’t take safety precautions with their usernames, passwords, and security questions.
The hackers will face severe legal penalties, but the victims’ lawyers have limited options to remove the offending images from the Internet. The attorneys can go after the websites on copyright grounds, or they can pursue claims related to the victims’ rights to privacy and publicity.
So current laws need to be changed to make it easier for anyone to get these photos offline? And should websites be held more liable for posting content that violates a person’s copyright privileges and their rights to privacy and publicity?
Joining us to discuss these fascinating topics are two leading experts in the field of digital privacy.
Eric Posner is the Kirkland and Ellis Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. His current research interests are international law and constitutional law, and he has written and edited numerous books on those subjects.
Marc Rotenberg is Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC. Marc teaches information privacy law at Georgetown University Law Center and has testified before Congress on many issues, including access to information, consumer protection, computer security, and communications privacy.
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