Leonard Deutchman

Introduction: Privacy Everywhere

In my April 2021 column, "Data Privacy: Why We Are All Over the Place," we discussed the meaning of privacy in the digital age. We discussed in detail Commonwealth v. Pacheco, 2020 PA Super 14 (Jan. 24, 2020) and Commonwealth v. Dunkins, No. 118 MAL 2020 (petition for allowance of appeal to the Supreme Court granted Aug. 4, 2020), both of which had recently been argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, both of which illustrate how the language of the Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 8 has been stretched, or overlooked, to protect "privacy" rights not protected in the U.S. and State Constitutions. On Nov. 17, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced its opinion in Pacheco, and followed the Superior Court in finding that cellphone users had "privacy" rights in data not in their possession and "private" simply because one could reasonably infer from the data actions taken by the users, regardless of whether those actions took place in public or solely in the privacy of the users' home or other private location. In this month's article, I shall discuss the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's actions and their ramifications,