National Security, Narcissism, Voyeurism, and Kyllo: How Intelligence Programs and Social Norms are Affecting the Fourth Amendment

This Article seeks to qualify somewhat the growing consensus that, at least as it was known in the twentieth century, “privacy is dead.” Although this sentiment seems empirically correct, this Article argues it is an oversimplification that fails to account for American values and legal policy. Rather, the Authors recognize as a morally neutral proposition that privacy is a legal fiction. At the same time, this Article advocates that it is a fiction best maintained and protected to the extent possible and reasonable given the unambiguous willingness of people en masse to sacrifice their privacy for mere convenience and token benefits.