The End of Privacy: The New Realities of a Digital World
Austin Sarat is William Nelson Cromwell professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has written, co-written, or edited more than ninety books in the fields of law and political science. Professor Sarat has received the Stan Wheeler Award for his excellence as a teacher and mentor, awarded by the Law and Society Association.
Overview
Americans say they value their privacy, but they regularly relinquish it knowingly and unknowingly. The privacy dilemma has become all the more acute in the present moment when many are more dependent on technologies which threaten our privacy than we have ever been. This talk will consider the legal status of the so-called “right to be let alone” as well as its meaning in our daily lives. Professor Sarat will discuss various situations in which we choose convenience over privacy or in which we mistakenly think have a right to privacy. What does that right protect? What can we do to better protect our privacy?