THE IDEOLOGICAL AND REGULATORY QUESTIONS OF THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY, WITH PARTICULAR REGARD TO THE SITUATION OF PUBLIC FIGURES

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Defining and protecting the right to privacy is one of the important tasks of modern jurisdictions. The development of this right has always been greatly influenced by societal, economic and technological changes. The first drafting of this eligibility was brought forward when Eastman Kodak introduced a small, compact camera that made it possible to take photos clandestinely1. This gave a starting point to Samuel Warren’s and Luis Brandeis’ work that was published in the Harvard Law Review in December of 1890, titled “The Right to Privacy” which has laid the foundation of the discourse over privacy. As the authors wrote: “Recent inventions and business methods call attention to the next step which must be taken for the protection of the person”2. Although, today the economic and societal system is completely different, the need for the protection of privacy, that Warren and Brandeis wrote about, has not expired, moreover, in some respect there is a greater need for protection than ever before. There is a stark contrast between this approach and the words of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, from 2010 who stated that “privacy has ceased to be a social norm”. Emphasizing the importance of internet platforms, including social media sites, may seem superfluous in 2020, however, these sites’ impact on rights relating to personality, in particular, on privacy, is unquestionable. The situation of public figures cannot be ignored in this matter, as the Civil Code does not provide an exact, universal legal definition for this group. The interpretation of this concept is, thus, a task for the judicial case-law. In this study, I shall seek to explore that the right to privacy how and on what ideological basis fits in the domestic legal system, the development of this right’s interpretation in relation to public figures, since the relationship between the public and private sphere is considered crucial in terms of every legal system. One of the cornerstones of a democratic legal system is