Emily BurkeProfessor RizziUNIV 1111 December 2014Privacy: a right that is decreasing due to technological advancesFrom the first draft of the Constitution, to Louis Brandeis' 1890 essay on privacy, to recent cases of violation of privacy in the context of GPS tracking, the “right to privacy” has been revolutionized over the last few centuries. In this age, technology has exceeded our wildest expectations, placing limitations on privacy rights that most people still wish they had. However, this issue is constantly debated among politicians, all over the world. As Supreme Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “privacy rights are not suited to the digital age.” Although many politicians and historians argue that the Constitution protects our privacy rights, it is actually true that, due to the recent acceleration of technology and security shortcomings, the Constitution does not truly protect privacy rights. “Privacy Rights” are explained and defined as many different things through different eyes and different times. While subjective, there are amendments that clearly address these rights. Britannica argues that, although the Constitution does not explicitly protect privacy, provisions have been created within the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to protect the right to privacy (“Privacy Rights”). The Wilson Quarterly proposes that Supreme Court decisions emphasize that the Constitution guarantees the right to privacy, but legal scholars have rejected this idea, forcing the Court to reconsider it as a constitutional right. First, it uses the Griswold case, which prohibited the use of contraception by couples. Justice William Douglas wrote that “specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, forms… middle of the paper… slation, and the act has failed (Hykel). Nothing has been created since the ECPA to protect privacy laws, because it seems that it is virtually impossible for one act to keep the legislation up to date with rapidly growing technology. In short, we have reached a roadblock in the privacy protection issue. Although many notable historians and politicians have argued that there are amendments and laws that protect some rights, it has been proven that there is still almost no privacy. Until we can find an adequate system to accelerate legislation alongside technological advances, or until technology slows dramatically, the Constitution will no longer protect our privacy rights. Thanks to our extraordinary abilities to surpass in the 21st century what the framers of the Constitution and the first politicians ever intended, privacy as we knew it will never be the same again.