2 Privacy in the Digital Age
Amendment protects the privacy of the person and possessions, stating that
the government cannot engage in unreasonable searches and seizures and
that warrants can only be issued with probable cause. The Ninth Amend-
ment could provide a more general protection of privacy, since it states that
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be con-
strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”4 The amendments
found in the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal level until the adop-
tion of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, with its due process clause. The
aforementioned clause made most of the Bill of Rights applicable to state and
local governments as well.
The Fourth Amendment has protected the privacy of U.S. citizens and
some others from unreasonable searches and seizures by its government for
over 200 years. This book will explore privacy and the Fourth Amendment in
the 21st century; however, it is important to look at the developments lead-
ing up to the current century.
COLONIAL TIMES AND LATE 18TH CENTURY
Postal Service
It is possible that the only truly private communications we have are the
thoughts in our heads. This has been true for hundreds of years; even in colo-
nial times, people had privacy concerns in regard to their communications.
In Colonial America, one method of communication was sending messages
through the mail. For many years, mail was delivered via private messen-
gers. A postal system was established in the late 1600s when Thomas Neale
was appointed postmaster general of America by the British government. His
charge was to establish post offices that were responsible for sending, receiv-
ing, and delivering letters in the colonies. Despite being postmaster general,
Thomas Neale never traveled to the United States. The nascent postal ser-
vice was effectively run by the deputy postmaster, Alexander Hamilton.
A respect for privacy can be seen in the Post Office Act 1710. This act,
also known as Queen Anne’s Act, was passed by the British Parliament and
took effect in North America on June 1, 1711, and remained in effect until
1789. It established fixed rates for transporting letters and created a deputy
postmaster general for the colonies. Additionally, it included wording con-
cerning privacy, stating that “No Person or Persons shall presume wittingly,
willingly, or knowingly, to open, detain, or delay, or cause, procure, permit,
or suffer to be opened, detained, or delayed, any Letter or Letters, Packet, or
Packets.”5 Postal employees were required to take an oath swearing to the
above, and violators faced a fine of up to 25 pounds.
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