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John Jones: The Invasion Of Privacy Cases

Decent Essays

While John Jones, the host of KVRX and a student at the University of Texas, may be offended by the publication of his girlfriend’s private medical files, he would likely have a difficult time directly suing The Daily Texan for damages. His cause of action, which would be the unlawful obtaining and publishing of a citizen’s private medical bills, would be sufficient to justify a right to sue if it had been brought to the court by the victim herself. Initially, I could advise Jones that he could attempt to pursue a privacy case and claim that even though the information was true, the media still invaded his personal privacy. He could pursue the privacy tort concerning the disclosure of private facts, in which case he would need to prove that …show more content…

The reporter obtained this private information from a temporary employee at the private clinic, which I would consider an untraditional method of gathering information. There are laws set in place that help regulate what kind of information is private, and medical records are included in this list. Therefore, legally, the employee should not have released his girlfriend’s information. While the reporter cannot be responsible for the wrongdoings of his or her source, the reporter should have considered the importance of this information and the necessity of its publication. Information pertaining to a woman’s medical history is not information that is vital for the public to be aware of, despite the fact that she is dating an active opponent of abortions. Even further, by publishing this personal information, the reporter showed a blatant disregard for the effect the publication may have on the woman. While she is dating a public figure, she is a private citizen, and has more rights to control the information released about her. Health records are considered closed, and as such, most citizens do not have a right to access this information. The reporter should have balanced the importance of publishing the information against the harm it may have caused to the girlfriend and adjusted his or her level of intrusiveness accordingly. Furthermore, by following a tip given by one of Jones’s liberal opponents, the reporter was not acting independently, which ultimately calls into questions the motivations and validity of his publication. While one could argue that the public has the right to know that Jones is potentially a hypocrite, the information released is not specifically pertaining to a choice that he made. This reporter actively chose to reveal very personal information about a private citizen who

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