The Right to Privacy
The Right to Privacy

The Right to Privacy

Louis D. Brandeis and Samuel D. Warren


The Right to Privacy is an article that appeared in the Harvard Law Review issue of December 15, 1890 that is considered the first document that argued for the inherent right to privacy, defining the right as one of the natural rights, the “right to be left alone”. The authorship is credited to both Louis Brandeis and his law partner Samuel Warren, but the article was apparently written mostly by Brandeis. The article was inspired by the coverage of intimate details of private lives made possible by the use of instantaneous photography and the mass circulation of newspapers.

The core argument is an extension of the fundamental right of the individual to full protection in person and property, and notes that the principle is continually reconfigured in light of political, social and economic change, in much the same way that protection against bodily injury came to include fear of injury in addition to actual injury, and that property grew to add intangible property to tangible property. The article examines libel, slander, and intellectual property law as possible protections and finds them inadequate, and proceeds to examine case law and attempt to define privacy itself, an finally imposes limitations on the protection. While short by contemporary standards, The Right to Privacy has been called one of the most influential essays in the history of American law and is especially relevant today as new technologies and business models seek ever more personal data and threats of terror invoke escalating surveillance tactics.

Play sample: 

Product Details

Read by: D. S. Harvey
Length: 1 hour and 41 minutes
Type: Solo reading
Media: MP3 CD
Package: CD jacket
Item No.: CJ-1136
EAN: 0682550992716
List Price: $7.99

Credits

Production

Produced by: D. S. Harvey

Artwork
Cover: Peeping Tom by Jean Carolus (1814–1897)
Inset: Harvard Law Review, Dec. 15, 1890
Inset: Louis Brandeis circa 1916

The Recordings

About MP3 Audio

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The Recordings

These recordings were made using the author’s original published work, which is in the public domain. The readings were recorded by members of Librivox.org, which has generously made the recordings available to the public domain. While Librivox condones the sale and distribution of these recordings, it is not associated with the management or operations of MP3 Audiobook Classics. The audio files have been lightly edited and have been engineered using professional audio tools for maximum sonic quality. We spend considerable time and effort to ensure the recordings are free of noise, equalized for maximum listener pleasure, and that tracks are leveled and normalized to provide a consistent listening experience.

Table of Contents

Track Chapter Length
01 Right to Privacy - no endnotes 49:43
02 Right to Privacy - endnotes included 51:31

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