Privacy torts protect individuals from unwanted intrusions and disclosures. These include intrusion upon seclusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light, and appropriation of name or likeness. Each tort has specific elements that must be proven for a successful claim.

Intrusion upon seclusion involves invading private spaces, while public disclosure of private facts covers sharing sensitive information. False light creates misleading impressions, and appropriation uses someone's identity without consent. Understanding these torts is crucial for protecting personal privacy rights.

Invasion of Privacy Torts

Four invasion of privacy torts

• Intrusion upon seclusion involves an intentional invasion of a person's private affairs or solitude
• Public disclosure of private facts involves revealing truthful but private information about someone in a highly offensive manner
• False light involves publicizing information that creates a misleading and highly offensive impression of someone
• Appropriation of name or likeness involves using someone's name, image, or other identifying characteristics for commercial or other advantage without their consent

Elements of intrusion upon seclusion

• Intentional intrusion, physical or otherwise, into a person's private space or affairs (trespassing, wiretapping, reading private emails)
• Intrusion must be upon the solitude or seclusion of another or their private affairs or concerns where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy (bedroom, private conversations)
• Intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, judged by an objective standard considering the degree and context of the intrusion (installing hidden cameras in a bathroom)

Public disclosure of private facts

• Publicity of private facts meaning the disclosure must be public and not just to a single person or small group (publishing in a newspaper or online)
• Facts disclosed must be private and not public or already available through public records (medical history, sexual orientation)
• Disclosure would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, judged by an objective standard considering the nature of the facts and context (revealing someone's HIV status)
• Facts disclosed are not of legitimate public concern, but newsworthiness or public interest can be a defense to this tort (reporting on a politician's extramarital affair)

False light vs appropriation

• False light
  • Publicity that places the plaintiff in a false light that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person (doctoring a photo to make someone appear drunk)
  • Defendant must have acted with knowledge of or reckless disregard for the falsity of the publicized matter (publishing with doubts about the truth)
• Appropriation of name or likeness
  • Defendant's use of plaintiff's name, image, or other identifying characteristics (using a celebrity's photo in an ad without permission)
  • Use must be for defendant's advantage, commercial or otherwise (selling t-shirts with someone's face on them)
  • No consent from the plaintiff for such use
  • Appropriation does not require the use to be offensive or defamatory, unlike false light (using someone's name for a product endorsement they didn't agree to)