Giving Up Privacy

In the chapter on privacy, Plaissance discusses several examples of situations where people's right to privacy was questioned. Becky Lynn Gritzke's situation was especially unsettling. The then college student was caught on tape in 2000 drunkenly flashing her breasts at Mardi Gras by the show Girls Gone Wild. The show then used that footage without Gritzke's consent for the company's videos, cover, website, and advertisements. Gritzke sued on the basis of "embarrassment, humiliation, mental pain and suffering and the invasion of privacy" (Media Ethics, 175). The lawsuit was settled in 2002 when the company agreed to stop using Gritzke's image. 

However, the company's defense was "that Mardi Gras was a newsworthy event and that people who removed their clothes in public there forfeited their right to privacy." That's what strikes me as particularly unsettling, especially since Plaissance seems to take a similar stance. He explains that "Gritzke's claim that her privacy was somehow violated is a far cry from the true meaning of privacy" and that "Gritzke chose to 'vacate' her privacy" (Media Ethics, 175). 

While I agree that to some extent Gritzke relinquished some of her privacy by baring it all, there is a line that should not have been crossed. The fact that her stunt was then publicized and distributed without her consent is where I think her privacy was indeed violated. She knowingly flashed her breasts to the people on the street and consented to that "breach" of privacy. However, she did not agree to have that footage widely distributed and forever associated to her name. 

Subsequently, the damage was relatively lasting. If you Google Becky Lynn Gritzke's name, many search results are about the lawsuit, and the remainder are pictures or videos that are linked in some way to her involuntary stint on Girls Gone Wild. 

The very first result is a link to her IMDB page that names her an actress in two episodes of Girls Gone Wild. It isn't until the sixth link that her LinkedIn profile comes up. As a business professional, you'd most likely want that to be the first thing to pop up on a search of your name as opposed to articles and pictures regarding a one-time "wild" incident. 

Essentially, I believe that Gritzke did not entirely give up her right to privacy. The key to privacy, in my opinion, is consent. While we may not know what that information may do or where it may go, at least we can attest that it was our decision to have it released.