The Digital Age and Privacy
Privacy has been an important value in American culture from the country’s inception. Indeed, many of the amendments found in the Bill of Rights are undergirded in some manner, whether directly or obliquely, by a desire to protect individual privacy. For most of our country’s history, a person could reasonably assume a certain minimum level of privacy for most activities engaged in at home, work, and even unassuming public settings. However, technological progress has outpaced society’s ability to respond, and the very notion of privacy is in the process of being largely eviscerated.
This article will begin by discussing obstacles to privacy faced by Americans today. For example, in the post-9/11 world, we have been forced to sacrifice bits of our privacy in the name of homeland security. In addition, the increased use of electronic data storage, along with our own First Amendment, have also made what once were reasonably private records, such as probate documents, very public. There are many dangers concomitant with the ebb of personal privacy and the rise in technology. Identity theft is a visible and potentially costly consequence of privacy vitiation, but technology is not only utilized by criminals. Municipalities and employers represent a growing group of entities that are taking advantage of the increasing skillfulness and decreasing price of surveillance systems. Furthermore, individuals may be unintentionally compromising their own privacy through the data they store on social networking sites. Information on such sites is centralized and vulnerable to a host of harmful uses.
The second and third sections of this article discuss the traditional and advanced planning tools that can be used to safeguard privacy. For example, any discussion of privacy and security concerns should also address asset protection and wealth preservation issues. With the rapid enhancements in technology, malpractice actions are certainly possible, if not likely, against estate planning attorneys who fail to advise clients about asset protection alternatives. Indeed, “estate planning” in the 21st century is a misnomer. Practitioners in this area must be comprehensive wealth preservation planners addressing a wide range of clients’ needs both before and after death and extending far beyond the probate system and estate tax.