Reasonable expectation of privacy

Under current law, to establish a reasonable expectation of privacy a person must establish two things: that the individual had a subjective expectation of privacy; and that that subjective expectation of privacy is one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable. If either element is missing, no protected interest is established.

To support this privacy analysis, the Supreme Court has created a hierarchy of privacy interests:


 * First, expectations of privacy that "society is 'prepared to recognize as legitimate' have, at least in theory, the greatest protection.
 * Second, diminished expectations of privacy are more easily invaded.
 * Third, subjective expectations of privacy that society is not prepared to recognize as legitimate have no protection. See, e.g., Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143 n.12 (1978); United States v. Caymen, 404 F.3d 1196, 1200-01 (9th Cir. 2005) (no reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of computers the person has stolen or obtained by fraud).