“Invasion
of privacy is the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just
cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to
bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. It
encompasses workplace monitoring, Internet privacy, data collection, and other
means of disseminating private information” (uslegal.com). Since 1960 there are four torts of
privacy invasion which have been determined in order to protect citizen’s
rights to privacy; Intrusion, appropriation, false light and public
disclosure of embarrassing private facts. Even though public relations professionals so not have any formal laws or regulations for the field, in order to avoid any violations of privacy laws it is imperative for public relations professionals to fully understand these torts and other privacy regulations which could cause law suits.
Intrusion can come in the form of physical, electronic or mechanical intrusion on another’s privacy. The defense to intrusion is consent, given either explicitly or implied. Explicit means that the property owner gave permission for others to be on the property and implied is inferred permission, but not stated.
Intrusion can come in the form of physical, electronic or mechanical intrusion on another’s privacy. The defense to intrusion is consent, given either explicitly or implied. Explicit means that the property owner gave permission for others to be on the property and implied is inferred permission, but not stated.
Appropriation
is the use of the name or the likeness of someone without consent for
commercial exploitation or purpose. The use of names in a news story is not
considered commercial so for appropriation to apply, the name or likeness must
be used in an ad or a promotional piece. The best way to avoid violating this
is to obtain consent from subjects being used in campaigns or other promotional
events, which protects professional from appropriation lawsuits, unless the use
exceeds the consent given.
False light
is information that puts an individual into a false light that is highly
offensive to a reasonable person. It is an inoffensive false statement. False
light most often arises in fictionalized situations. Plaintiffs involved in
matter of public concern must prove actual malice to win false light actions. False
light is very close to libel, so the defenses are the same with consent, truth
and qualified privilege.
Public
disclosure of embarrassing private facts requires disclosure of such private
information that its violates the average person’s sensibilities. Publication to a broad audience is
required for this tort and newsworthiness is a strong defense. Although public
disclosure of private facts usually involves journalists because it requires
publication for a public audience, public relations professionals need to keep
the tort in mind when preparing materials involving sensitive issues.
Laws that require professionals to uphold the rights to privacy
are those like FERPA and HIPAA. The
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a Federal law that protects the
privacy of student educational records. These rights transfer to the student
when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school
level. Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or students
in order to release any information from a student's education record. Schools
may disclose"directory" information such as a student's name, address
and telephone number. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students
about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a
reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory
information about them.
The Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides rights and protections for
individual's health insurance records. You have the right to access your medical records at any time,
and HIPAA laws prevent those without your permission from gaining access to
your records. Medical providers must protect your privacy and keep your medical
records secure.
Your health
information cannot be used or shared without your written permission.
In order to gain access to these examples of protected
records for students and patient information in an ethical way, professionals
must determine the newsworthiness of stories or collaborate with a
the proper authorities in order to protect the patient’s privacy. Understanding the privacy torts and regulations
like FERPA and HIPAA will help you avoid activities that are likely to trigger
complaints.
Public
relations professionals will most often be faced with issues over appropriation
and informational privacy. Professionals must also be conscious when working
with internal relations. An employee should always be asked before information
about that employee is used in the newsletter, published in an external
publication or posted on a company Web site. Just because a person is an employee of your organization it does not dismiss their right to privacy. Generally
employee information that may be made public without the employee’s consent is confirmation of employment, job title, job description, date hired,
and date employment terminated.
Violation of privacy laws are not the only violations public relations professionals must be aware of when conducting business. In the midst of the rise of the
internet age, a new level of unethical behavior has arisen. A number of Web sites and deceptive social
networking postings have surfaced such as the use of false identities and
misleading information by organizations to better their image and their
campaigns. These examples of unethical conduct have ranged from, “A public relations firm is hired to
post favorable comments on Wikipedia about a number of clients. She
poses
as a neutral, third-party to post the comments”, to “an agency creates a fake
identity and uses the identity to post favorable comments about a client’s
social responsibility activities on a number of blogs and social networking
sites” (prsa.org). "PRSA members should not engage in or encourage the
practice of misrepresenting organizations and individuals through the use of
blogs, viral marketing, social media and anonymous Internet postings" (prsa.org).
As an unaccredited field it is up to professionals to not only adhere to governmental laws but to also uphold our field's code of ethics. Professional values to always have in mind in order to avoid invading any privacy
issues are, honesty, fairness and advocacy
(PRSA). It is our job to provide a voice for our clients in their various industries in order to present ideas, facts, and messages to inform the public. Practicing ethical public relations
will help reduce the likelihood of harming others through violating their privacy's, damaging their reputation or supporting the presentation of false information.
Sources:
Gower, Karla. "Legal and Ethical Considerations for Public Relations". Chapter 4: pg. 81 - 93
http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/ProfessionalStandardsAdvisories/Documents/PSA-08.pdf
http://definitions.uslegal.com/r/right-to-privacy/
http://definitions.uslegal.com/r/right-to-privacy/
Great post! Privacy and public relations can be a tricky issue, especially in internal relations. I've worked on company newsletters and you have to always be conscious to get permission before using people's names and information. It seems like it would be common sense, but if you're not careful can easily be looked over and cause issues. Great points about unethical social media behavior. I just saw a story on the news recently where a 17 year old girl was being paid $50 to a post to write fake comments about how great business are (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/major-crackdown-deceptive-fake-online-reviews-20351671) It was sad to see that girl admit to throwing away her credibility for a few bucks, and it's awful that companies are seeking out those types of fake publicity.
ReplyDeleteYeah it is really sad that companies are willing to stoop that low. Unfortunately it is more common than we realize. Companies and people want to be able to include clients by allowing them to post these comments, but if this move back fires and all they get are negative responses, then some chose to take the unethical path rather than working to make their product or reputation better. After going through this week's articles it was also shown that this is very common when campaigns are working to either promote a candidate or their opponent wants to taint their credibility. It is very important for professionals in public relations to not only have a moral compass but to also remind themselves of the laws they will be breaking, like those focused on privacy. If the fear of repercussions is not enough to keep some professionals on the ethical path then being informed of the law and it's punishments is the next best thing.
ReplyDeleteRights to privacy and public relations firms are very tough. On one hand, they demand that you keep your private life private and often times require you to have a work phone and a personal phone for the purposes of keeping everything separate so as not to fall into the invasion of privacy trap. I've worked in places where consent is of the utmost importance and places where if you sign a contract to work for the company, you almost give up some of your privacy rights. Invasion of privacy is one of those fine lines that exist in the public relations world and professionals are more aware of this due to be held liable for damages. I feel, though, that oftentimes they aren't careful enough.
ReplyDeleteKatherine - great post. Rights to privacy is a controversial topic because part of public relations revolves around transparency. Part of our job as PR professionals is to make sure that our clients are transparent and that the public can trust us, but we also depend on the public to provide a certain level of transparency. We need to know what they're thinking, what their action patterns are, and how we can act and react to that. However, how far is too far to search for that information if it's not readily available? Do we use unethical means to gain private information to benefit our client? In a dire situation, do we choose our ethics or our paycheck?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, privacy rights can benefit public relations while teetering on the ethical ledge. When we read gossip magazines and the article refers to "an insider source," I think it's safe to assume that the source is the celebrity's PR rep or personal assistant. The information is leaked, but its not necessary to know who leaked it. Like you mentioned in your post, companies can hire PR professionals to write bogus reviews or create fake websites to better the reputation of company or create more awareness. Ethically, it's clearly wrong. But in terms of business, it's a great strategy. As you mentioned in your response to Katie's post, the fear of repercussions is not enough to keep some professionals on an ethical path.
Much like bloggers, we have to uphold our own ethical standards without a formal set of guidelines. The ramifications of the law only apply if a person or company is caught. It's our job to maintain credibility and a set of standards within our profession to advance our reputation.
Katherine, your examples of how PR practitioners can get entangled in webs of privacy invasion without even knowing it are spot on. Specifically now, with so much information being accessible with the click of the mouse – as shown in this article, http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74650.html. It is unfortunate that the world is out for money more than respecting people, especially when it involves information that doesn’t add anything to the public’s knowledge on political issues or policy. Using private facts for the sole purpose of entertainment is petty and immature. Those might be a little more black and white for ethical PR professionals. But then there are the “gray area” torts of privacy– like Gower (2008, p. 86) mentions, something as simple as photographs of an employee has to have consent. One might overlook such a small piece of property, but it can be a huge point of contention if that photo doesn’t follow the correct process for protecting an individual’s rights.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, Great Post! There is no doubt that when it comes to privacy laws and social media ethical issues public relations practitioners have a difficult job. I really liked the point you raised about Public Relations being a non accredited field yet still having to hold themselves the responsibility of both personal and career codes of ethics. Like we have discussed before, the Public Relations field is like any other. It is not like being a Doctor or a Lawyer where you have extremely specific guidelines laid directly in front of you and you know exactly where the line is drawn. A lot of the times it is up to the PR professional to use their best judgement and personal morals to decide on whether a situation is against a privacy act. Just once again goes to show true light on the field of Public Relations. It is not all about putting out a positive glorified message. It is about helping your client to be most successful in the most ethical way possible.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
Jared, when doing this blog the idea of having not only a separate home and work life was of course a given, but in order to execute these separation we should have as you said separate phones, social media and so on. Our private lives is so important and is such a priority to so many people, but when it is our job to deal with the public, it is up to us to make that extra effort to really have that separation. Our job is to maintain the privacy of our clients, but is also important to keep our own in mind.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right with public relations professionals forgetting the little things. I found the portion of the reading in Gower on how to handle privacy in terms of internal relations very interesting. At time I think when most of us think of privacy issues we automatically go into how can we protect our clients and make sure we do not violate any of the public's information. However, it is also important to maintain these regulations with fellow employees and our peers. Privacy literally expands to everyone and working in a business that constantly deals with working alongside and for others, it is important to remember that when we want to present information on or about people, we must have their consent basically for all information that is going to be used. Simply because someone is our peer or a fellow employee, it does not negate the laws and rules we have to follow. By making assumptions we put ourselves at risk.
Teddy,
ReplyDeleteI think you are totally right in saying that for public relations professionals, maintaining our integrity and reputation is of the utmost importance. As an non accredited field, the major threat that any professional faces is the loss of a credible reputation. I was so alarmed when I read the article showing example of how companies and clients use PR professionals to help them falsify information on their websites or make fake profiles for them to help promote their name. Yes it is our job to better our clients image for the public, but if our clients ask us to perform unethical tasks like crossing the lines between truth and lies or privacy vs. breech of information, it is then up to us to respond with what we believe the right move to make is and then leave the situation. In my opinion, if that means leaving a client behind then so be it. At the end of the day if we risk our reputation then we risk everything we have worked for.
It is for these reasons and more that it is so important for us, as you stated, to understand where the privacy lines for us are drawn in terms of how to connect with and understand our publics. We cannot utilize the internet and social media tools we have been given to infiltrate the public's discussion domains in order to "connect" with them and we cannot use these tools in a negative manner by presenting false information. The internet has really created this stress for public relations professionals over privacy issues recently because it provides us, and others, with the ability to access more information than we should be privy to and provides us with the power to present certain words and information in an unethical way.
Kacey,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, when it boils down to the major issues and problems professionals face in our field, more times than none it revolves around the right and wrong thing to do. Yes of course we face struggles with campaigns for our clients, issues with management and sometimes internal complications, but when presented with these obstacles how we move forward really determines what kind of professional we are. This is something that applies in pretty much any profession, but as a field without any formal laws that apply specifically to public relations, it is up to us to stay informed legally and ethically.
I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments here. Nice job, Katherine, in providing a nice and concise summary of the key privacy issues.
ReplyDelete