Most of my friends know, I am not a big fan of privacy. In fact, I often speak freely about matters socially regarded as private. I have often, as well, been greatly misinterpreted because of that, or attracted a great deal of trouble because of it. So, privacy is a two way street, both in the passive and active spectrum. People expect certain things of theirs to be private, and also expect you to keep certain things private. All in all, privacy is something that society is willing to respect, expect, and protect. So, why is it that privacy expectations become so malleable, liquid, and practically nonexistent, when it comes to public figures. My point is that public figures, like everyone else have a very limited, but very real, private life. And their privacy expectations, like everyone else's should be respected. Yet, people see this intrusion as fair game, and the consequences are all but innocuous.
Senator Roberto Arango's recently resigned from his elected position as a senator in the legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. His resignation seems to have been motivated by a media scandal based on the publication of very sexually suggestive pictures on broadcast media. He was the Speaker for the NPP majority and in charge of the rules and calendar committee of the Senate. So, Arango was not a second-rate politician. Thus, he was a public figure.
Arango seems to have uploaded some very compromising pictures to an internet site named Grindr. His reasons for having uploaded this photos are inapposite to the validity of my argument because the site's privacy policy states:
"Grindr is the most private and discreet way to meet local guys. It uses the GPS technology in your iPhone or BlackBerry and the Wi-Fi in the iPod touch or iPad to determine your exact location and instantly connect you with guys in your area. But it doesn’t leave a trail like other dating sites and social networks.
You do not have to provide any information about yourself. You can remain 100% anonymous. No photo or any details about yourself are required to start using Grindr. You’ll probably get more responses from local men by including a photo and your stats, but the information you share is totally your choice.
Grindr does not ask for your email address, require an account registration, or use a complicated validation process. You can start chatting with guys near you in seconds.
Grindr allows users 18 years and older only.
By accessing the Grindr service you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agree to the following privacy policy. In order for Grindr to work with your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry, or other mobile device, we must collect your Device Identification Code or “DIC”. The DIC is a special type of identifier used in software applications in order to provide a unique reference number for applications like those used by your mobile device. Your DIC is not shared with other users.
You understand that when you use Grindr, certain information you post or provide on Grindr may be shared with other users, including without limitation your profile, comments, photographs and locations. In addition, you understand that use of Grindr may include the disclosure and display of your location/distance data to other users. Grindr users can use the search feature to search for other members by different criteria, like age. The information that you enter into your profile will be used for these searches. Please note that if you choose to show your location, the information that is provided to Grindr about your distance will be used within your profile and can be viewed and searched by other Grindr users. Even if you choose to hide your distance information, sophisticated users of Grindr may be able to determine your location.
We do not share any of your personal information with any third parties other than our advertising display partners such as Admob, Inc and analytics partners such as Flurry. With these third parties we may share the following pieces of information: 1) your DIC, 2) your location, 3) your gender, 4) your age. Further, information gathered when an ad request is made is not shared by those third party partners with specific advertisers. Some of our ad partners may target ads based on user behavior. Apple Inc.'s iAd network allows users to opt out of behavioral targeting by visiting http://oo.apple.com from your iOS4 device.
We will not otherwise disclose any personal information without your consent, except: in response to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process; to establish or exercise our rights to defend against legal claims; if we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, safety of person or property, violation of our policies, or as otherwise required by law.
Ok, so Grindr is not safe. In fact, it is pretty creepy. But one thing it makes clear is that information or media posted in Grindr is accessible only to users and advertisers. I highly doubt that Arango ever posted his name, or other similar information. So, I will assume that a user saw him, and denounced him to the gossip commentators in Puerto Rico thereby prompting the bleedthrough of the photos to the broadcast media and internet new services. I must also assume that Arango never published his photos on the Internet.
Is this fair game? Well, the first-impression answer is "Yes". After all, Arango was a public figure, and he posted suggestive pictures on a website which transmitted them in the Internet. But this answer overlooks the importance of Arango's privacy expectations when the pictures were posted; and the misconduct of the user who betrayed the website's only purpose, to wit: to allow adult males to find physically find or contact each other.
What could be within the realm of Arango's reasonable privacy expectations? Well, the matter has been greatly discussed in the case-law, and I, for one, am convinced that reasonable privacy expectations commence within the umbra of one's home. So, if public view has been impeded by the individual, and he is within his residence, or his home, then he has a reasonable privacy expectation, regardless of his status as a public figure. And it is within this umbra where sex usually occurs.
So, is Grindr within this umbra. In other words, does a Grindr user expect that his profile pics and info be accessed by individuals not interested in meeting or contacting other users. The short answer is "No". The service even states that it does not leave a trail. So, Grindr is specifically geared towards facilitating personal encounters, and the pics attributed to Arango so evince. So it is very hard to assume that individuals posting pics in Grindr actually expect non-users to view them; let alone use the pics for any purpose other than contacting each other. So Grindr is an anonymous sexual fast-track, sort of speak.
Had Arango been a particularly private person, he would not have been recognized. Granted his status as a politician makes him fair game for public discussion of his sexual identity; but I highly doubt that Arango's actual sexual activity is of any interest to anyone, and Grindr is pretty close to that sexual conduct because its sole purpose is to facilitates personal encounters of its members. Therefore, Arango could have relied on reasonable privacy expectations to keep his photos, and therefore his Grindr user identity, out of the public mainstream. Because, after all, Grindr users should rely on the service solely to contact each other.
Arango's case is a clear example of how undervalued, and vulnerable, privacy expectations are in the current cybernetic era and in Puerto Rican society. More stringent and clear law should be developed to address this profound and perjudicial deficit between subjective privacy expectations and societal protection.
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