More than 40 bills designed to protect individuals against electronic invasion of privacy are currently pending in Congress, a clear sign of public concern about the ease with which information can be obtained and shared in an electronic age.
Waging a vigorous campaign against government attempts to curtail access to information is Jane E. Kirtley, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who presented a lecture titled "No Place to Hide? Reconciling Your Right to Privacy and Freedom of the Press" on Oct. 20 to about 50 people in 165 McGraw Hall.
The lecture was sponsored by the Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Fellowship Program.
In her Cornell lecture, Kirtley gave special attention to issues related to electronic communications. She cited the Drivers Privacy Protection Act as an example of how the government can move to shield information from the public. This federal law was passed after young actress Rebecca Shaffer was murdered by a stalker who obtained her address by accessing electronic motor vehicle registration files; it prohibited states from giving the public access to their centralized DMV databases.
The law was struck down in 1996, though as a sovereignty, not a First Amendment, issue, Kirtley said. A federal judge ruled that the government exceeded its authority in forcing states to adhere to its restrictions on the release of data. She noted, however, that the judge added a comment to his decision in which he declared that the electronic availability of the information, even medical information, did not infringe on privacy.
"I believe the new technology is being used as a pretext for government to set new draconian restrictions on information," Kirtley said. Equally problematic, the government is not subjecting itself to the same restrictions, she added.
Kirtley compared freedom of the press rights in the United States to the situation in Europe, in which even the most liberal countries have strict standards on privacy and may license journalists.
"Europeans believe you cannot effectively exercise your civil rights if you cannot do it in anonymity," she explained.
The restraints against access to information in Europe may impinge on press rights in this country, Kirtley warned, since the European Union is trying to force the U.S. to adopt its guidelines on electronic access under threat of a trade boycott.
"Should the government make rules that apply to journalists?" she asked, adding that laws similar to each of the European restrictions have already been negated by U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
Even the paparazzi should not be subject to restrictions, Kirtley argued. U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.), arguing that celebrities are "an endangered species," said a law should be passed giving them "buffer zones of privacy." Others proposing legislation give assurances that restrictions would not be applied to "legitimate journalists."
"Who will decide who is 'legitimate?'" Kirtley countered.
Grisly photographs of accident scenes are another current area of concern, but Kirtley argued that without press access to and recording of such scenes, the public would receive only official versions of events.
Granting that there have been abuses, Kirtley said the current public focus has been directed to the wrong place.
"The focus should be on conduct, not information," she said, arguing that current laws protect against libel and other abuses.
"Europeans believe their fundamental rights are protected by government," she said. "U.S. citizens believe their rights should be protected from government. For me, truth is more important than privacy."
During the question-and-answer period that followed, audience members expressed doubt about the unfettered access to all types of information that Kirtley advocates. In response to a question, she said one area in which she would agree to restrictions is where minor children are involved.
Kirtley conceded in answer to another question that balancing the First Amendment against the right to privacy is difficult. She faulted advocates of privacy legislation for not providing specific definitions of privacy and for not attempting to define or grade categories of invasion of privacy, for instance, treating publication of someone's name at the same level as publication of a genetic profile.
"I always believe truth is the best," she said. "In too many cases, privacy is used as a shield to keep information from the public."
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is a voluntary, unincorporated association of reporters and editors founded in 1970 to protect the First Amendment and freedom of information interests of the news media.
The Kops Freedom of the Press Fellowship Program was established in 1990 by Daniel W. Kops, a 1939 graduate of Cornell and former editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, to bring distinguished speakers to Ithaca annually to discuss issues relating to freedom of the press. The Kops Fellowship is hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the American Studies Program.