The question comes in light of the recent young republicans leaks. Firstly, I’m not a republican and I think the shit they were saying was out of line, regardless of context. That said, the situation, among countless other times similar things have happened made me think. Is it reasonable to hold individuals accountable for statements made that they thought were in private. I think the public figure aspect is obviously the main catch here. In instances where the individual is a public figure, they kind of made their bed in my opinion. That said though, the more normal and sensational these events become the more realistic it is to widen in scope. Would it be reasonable for a future employer or date to pull up your group chats/private messages/anonymous posts?
You’re asking more than one question, really:
Should you have the expectation of privacy in “private” electronic communication?
–and–
Should “private” communications that become public be considered when vetting people for positions of influence?
Personally, I was raised with the understanding that you should never write anything down that you wouldn’t want read aloud in front of your grandma and the Supreme Court. The law (at least in the US) does delineate some type of communication that should have the expectation of legal privacy: with your priest, your therapist, your lawyer, and your spouse. A lesser expectation for when you’re in your own home, and none at all beyond that. Whether the law is right or wrong, it at least sets expectations. And those YRs were not protected. They perhaps have grounds to sue whoever leaked the group chat, but you can’t really cry foul at anyone else.
That’s a fair statement, I guess it does really boil down to those two questions. The main one in my eyes being the first though. In today’s world with the technology we have, moral or not, is it reasonable to expect privacy in written forms of communication.
I’m a hacker of the old school. The only privacy you truly have is what you wrest for yourself through robust cryptography, and even that is temporary.
Scary times
It has always been thus. I just read a story –here on fedi!– about a centuries-old letter finally getting decrypted.