"Recent inventions and business methods call attention to the next step which must be taken for the protection of the person and for securing to the individual the right "to be let alone.'"
"The Right to Privacy," Louis Brandeis, 1890
In 1890, the world was in the middle of a technological revolution. Cameras, cheap newsprint and "numerous devices" threatened to "make good the prediction that "what is whispered in the closet shall be proclaimed in the house-tops.'" Recognizing imminent danger to the fundamental American right to be left alone, future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis published what became perhaps the most influential law review article in American history.
In "The Right to Privacy," Justice Brandeis presented the case for government to take action to ensure your right to be free from intrusions upon your privacy by both big government and big business. In Brandeis' case, the solution was the extension of laws which protected private property to protect our right to what he called "an inviolate personality." Over time, legislatures codified and American courts adopted Brandeis' suggestions through case law.
More than 120 years later, Americans face a similar problem with our legal system needing to catch up with new technology. In just the last two decades, Big Data has revolutionized many aspects of our economy. Almost without exception, Big Data technology can track you no matter where you are or what you do.
Consider the following day: After a night of peaceful rest, you wake up to discover the temperature has dropped, so you head to your thermostat and turn up the heat. Your thermostat records and reports the change. You walk to the fridge to pick your breakfast, and your fridge records and reports what you ate. You shower, get dressed, and drive to work. Along the way, a GPS device tracks your movements.You sit down at your desk and use the computer - and nearly every website you visit tracks exactly what you're doing through the use of cookies.
Leaving work, you decide to run a few errands, so you head to a big retail store. Feeling a little under the weather, you buy medication. Or, perhaps you have an embarrassing health condition, so you buy a drug related to the condition. The retailer tracks your purchase and often sells your transaction history to third-party data brokers. (A recent investigation by a U.S. Senate committee revealed one data broker who alleged sold lists of Americans who were rape victims, alcoholics, and erectile dysfunction sufferers.)
Finally, you arrive home and decide to relax in front of the television - where every show you watch it tracked and kept in a file attached to your own personal identification number.
Your movements, your thoughts, and your actions have been tracked, recorded, and commoditized the entire day.
Every example listed above has benefits. This kind of tracking helps companies like Netflix recommend movies you're likely to enjoy - and for Google to provide you with better search results. But you ought to be informed before a company tracks your activity, and, armed with this knowledge, have the ability to opt-out of the Big Data economy by refusing to do business with companies that treat your private information as a commodity.
I've sponsored a legislative package to protect your right to decide on your own how your private information is used and to require companies holding sensitive personal information to inform you of data breaches which may subject you to identity theft. These bills would protect the privacy of your personal health information, driving history, educational information, and your purchasing histories from being shared or sold to others without your consent. In addition, House Bill 1333 would require companies that hold your sensitive personal information to warn you when you've been put at risk of identity theft.
I was pleased to present the majority of these bills Thursday before a House Committee chaired by Rep. Paul Curtman, another public servant dedicated to protecting your right to privacy, and I'm hopeful that several of them will become law.
Hearing on execution protocol
The House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability will hold a hearing Monday at noon on the new execution protocol followed by the Department of Corrections. Regardless of your position on the death penalty, everyone should agree it should be carried out in accordance with the demands of our Constitution. In addition, although some secrecy is necessary to protect the identity of persons involved in the process, the process itself should be subject to public scrutiny. Missourians deserve to know the details of how the most serious action state government can take is actually accomplished - and the reasons why the Department of Corrections has chosen its current protocol.
State Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, represents Missouri's 60th District.
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