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There is no constitutional “right to privacy”

SCOTUSblog · · US Federal · Privacy Law

A piece arguing that the U.S. Constitution does not contain an explicit right to privacy has surfaced in public discourse. The claim touches on a long-running legal debate about how privacy protections are grounded in constitutional law.

Why this matters: This argument matters because privacy rights in the U.S. have always been inferred, not spelled out. Courts built them from the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments, plus the concept of liberty in the Fourteenth. That foundation is real, but it is also fragile. When judges or lawmakers decide those inferences do not hold, the rights built on top of them — contraception, medical decisions, digital privacy — can be revisited. The architecture of your privacy depends on how this question gets answered.

Who should care: General readers · Privacy officers · Policy

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