Deck 6: Privacy

Question 1

The privacy tort protecting you from others encroaching on your personal space and data is called ___ .

A) false light
B) intrusion
C) appropriation
D) trespass

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the claims below would be classified as a tort under the area of privacy invasion?

A) intrusion upon personal solitude
B) public disclosure of embarrassing private facts
C) appropriation of one's name or image for commercial gain
D) shining a false light on one's public identity
E) all of the above

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The privacy tort guarding against the use of one's likenesses for commercial gain without permission is ____ .

A) appropriation
B) intrusion
C) libel
D) actual malice

Answer 3

A

Question 4

An invasion of privacy claim where the plaintiff can show the defendant's publication wrongly presented him or her in a manner that's highly offensive to a reasonable person is ____ .

A) defamation
B) prior restraint
C) false light
D) intrusion

Question 5

The common law tort protecting people from interference with their person, land, and possessions is ____ .

A) intrusion
B) trespass
C) defamation
D) false light

Question 6

An intentional material misrepresentation of fact the plaintiff relies on to his or her detriment is called ____ .

A) intrusion
B) false light
C) fraud
D) negligence

Question 7

The right of famous people to control and profit from their persona and public identity without fearing its use by others to their undeserved benefit is called ____ .

A) false light
B) the right of publicity
C) intrusion
D) copyright

Question 8

Which landmark ruling below by the Supreme Court confirmed the right of publicity for performers who want to protect their public performance from others using without consent?

A) Prudhomme v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co. (1992)
B) Muhammad Ali v. Playgirl (1978)
C) Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001)
D) Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1977)

Question 9

Which one is an early case of appropriation lacking legal grounds to win in a New York court?

A) unauthorized use of Abigail Roberson's face on flour packaging in Albany, NY
B) unauthorized re-use of a Time magazine cover for news coverage in New York City
C) unauthorized use of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse to sell Manhattan popsicles
D) unauthorized use of the likeness of Vanna White as a Samsung robot in New York City

Question 10

Which of the following would be an example of false light invasion of privacy?

A) TV anchor erroneously reports a childless kindergarten teacher elected "Mother of the Year"
B) School newspaper prematurely reports correctly a student has a 4.0 GPA and is valedictorian.
C) Blog post fails to spell correctly the principal's name but the misspelling is random nonsense.
D) News article falsely reports a celebrity is an abusive alcoholic.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of the public disclosure of private facts?

A) Newspaper article relates facts about the surgeon general's report of the president's health
B) Newsletter lists the ways a corporation has maintained unsafe working conditions
C) TV news program shows a dramatic re-enactment of a rescue from a burning house
D) Blog post attaches a photo of a hospital patient being treated for a sexually transmitted disease

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of intrusion?

A) Taking a photograph on a public street
B) Recording a conversation in a public space
C) Videotaping a children's soccer game
D) Wiretapping a neighbor's home phone

Question 13

Which item below is sufficient to hold a reporter liable for public disclosure of private facts?

A) Truthful facts conveyed about the person were highly offensive
B) Truthful facts are of no legitimate concern
C) Both a & b
D) none of the above

Question 14

Zones of privacy specified in claims of intrusion typically cover which item below?

A) politicians
B) famous people
C) Google's street-view images
D) newsgathering techniques where journalists record images, sounds, and voices without consent
E) all of the above

Question 15

U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the constitutional basis for privacy is found in the ___.

A) Ten Commandments
B) Bill of Rights
C) Thirteenth Amendment
D) United States Congress

Question 16

Publication, identification, falsity and highly offensive content are required to prove a case of ___ .

A) false light
B) intrusion
C) public disclosure of private facts
D) trespass

Question 17

Which one(s) below are items protected by appropriation claims of privacy invasion?

A) name
B) likeness
C) sound
D) image
E) all of the above

Question 18

Broadcast messages containing information of public interest obtained by illegal wiretap were at the center of which of the following cases?

A) Prudhomme v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co. (1992)
B) Muhammad Ali v. Playgirl (1978)
C) Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001)
D) Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1977)

Question 19

A number of courts recognize the right of publicity privacy for the estate of dead celebrities. An example of this is the

A) Celebrity Privacy Protection Act of Louisiana
B) Personal Rights Protection Act of Tennessee
C) Electronic Communications Privacy Act
D) USA Patriot Act

Question 20

What law gave the Federal Trade Commission power to prevent websites from collecting data from those youngsters under the age of 13 without parental permission?

A) Communications Act of 1934
B) Telecommunications Act of 1996
C) Electronic Communications Privacy Act
D) Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998

Question 21

Jim Shortz is arrested by local police for drunkenness. Shortz is normally a mild-mannered guy, but went a little wild during break, and even punched a cop. Because it occurs over spring break, none of his friends or professors hears about it until the Anaconda Advocate does a story after classes resume. Shortz would win a suit for publication of embarrassing private facts because the arrest occurred in the past and it harms his reputation to dredge up an old arrest.

Question 22

Student Health Center Dr. Louis Stuhls diagnoses student Phil Anderer as having syphilis. This is written into his medical file. Nosy Natalia, a student worker at the health center, discovers this information and posts it on her social media blog, "Nosy's Know-knows" that is widely circulated. Anderer, who normally has a different date every night of the week, now finds it impossible to get anyone to go out. If he sues for this publication of embarrassing private facts, he will likely lose despite his injury, because Nosy can show the truthful nature of her online blog.

Question 23

Dee Seetful is a junior executive for a medium-sized company in Indianapolis. She has never sought publicity for herself, and could never qualify as any sort of public figure. One Sunday, she told her husband she had to go to the office to work on a project. Instead, Seetful picks up a male companion and heads to Bigly Stadium for an NFL game. While at the football game, the cameras pick Seetful and her companion out of the crowd. Mr. Seetful sees the game at home on TV, and files for divorce. His wife will win her suit against the NFL for intrusion of her privacy.

Question 24

Using the same hypothetical facts, supposing the same junior executive for a medium-sized company in Indianapolis has never sought publicity for herself, and could never qualify as any sort of public figure. One Sunday, Dee Seetful tells her husband she had to go to the office to work on a project. Instead, Dee picks up a male companion and heads to Bigly Stadium for an NFL game. While at the game, the cameras pick Seetful and her companion out of the crowd. Mr. Seetful sees the game at home on TV, and files for divorce. This time Dee Seetful will win a suit for false light invasion of privacy.

Question 25

The local newspaper took pictures of Hollywood stars at the Academy Awards. In order to increase circulation, the paper runs a photo of a different celebrity each day on page one for a month. One of the stars, Ima Snobb, resents having her picture used by a small local paper just to increase circulation. Based on precedent, Snobb will win an appropriation suit against the newspaper, as the pictures aren't related to current news, and she didn't know she was being photographed.

Question 26

The local newspaper got so much positive response about the pictures published of Ima Snobb (in the above scenario) that it receives all sorts of requests for reprints. The paper decides to make available 8 x 10" glossies of the pictures, as well as larger posters for student dorm rooms (oops - residence halls - not supposed to use the "d" word). Since Ima had no expectation of privacy when the pictures were taken, she will not win a suit for invasion of privacy.

Question 27

Ike Arumba runs a singles club in town. Justin Hale is a reporter who goes undercover to do a story about singles clubs, and brings a hidden camera to his first meeting with Arumba, at his home. He agrees to set up Hale with one of his clients, but for safety reasons, the club manager insists they meet at his home. Hale returns next week, again recording the events of the evening with the reporter and his date, Doris Shutt at Arumba's home. Hale then does a story on singles clubs, using the recording of both of them at the house. According to precedent, Hale will not be held liable for invasion of privacy because of the newsworthiness of the story.

Question 28

Sharon Seekrits is a reporter for WAMO-TV. She takes her mobile phone with an infra-red camera lens with her on spring break and tags along with university students. They do not know she is actually a reporter, or that she is often recording video of them at night, but she has never lied (they've never asked). While on spring break, students go wild on the beach, where they engage in carousing, lewd and lascivious acts (remember - this is only a hypothetical). Upon return to the college town, Seekrits airs a series titled, "Under the Boardwalk at Spring Break: What You Need To Know." No faces are blurred and several students are recognizable in her infra-red coverage. Based on these facts, Seekrits has engaged in an invasion of privacy.

Question 29

Whiz-Bang Toy Company makes a lot of products appealing to children from 0-12 years old. It has a website. To interest children in their products, this website has a number of game pages where kids can play all sorts of games involving their favorite toy's characters. As long as the site is free, Whiz-Bang can ask all visitors to the site for personal information or use "cookies" to get it (such as names, and phone numbers, but not social security numbers) without legal obligations.