Protecting Our Right to Privacy

The Nevada Constitution has no express right to privacy. That needs to change, particularly as the information which marks our private online presence is maintained by corporations with no motive but to maximize profit by selling such information to the highest bidder. And the need for strong privacy protections in our State is all the more crucial since the criminal Trump administration is demanding that Nevada turn over driver’s license and social security number data for corrupt purposes.

A person deserves to enjoy privacy in their home and in their digital life. To be clear, nobody is arguing that someone should be able to conceal criminal conduct behind the guise of protections of privacy. But the wide range of personal conduct people engage in with no criminal consequences deserves strong protections, especially when technology allows a level of invasiveness that could not have been contemplated until this decade. 

Nevada can take some notes from other States that have strengthened personal privacy protections in their State constitutions. For example, Washington State protects their residents’ “private affairs,” with this protection deemed by Washington courts to be stronger than the protections of privacy granted under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Nevada should go further than Washington has and expand protections for Nevadans’ privacy rights, both in their homes and online.