Also known as: expectations of privacy · reasonable expectation of privacy · REP
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A belief in the existence of the right to be free of governmental intrusion in regard to a particular place or thing. The belief receives Fourth Amendment protection only when the individual actually holds it and society recognizes it as reasonable.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Emanuel Escobar stepped into a public phone booth and closed the door before discussing sensitive business matters. Officers attached a listening device to the outside of the booth and recorded the call without a warrant. Escobar later sought to suppress the recording on the ground that the government had violated his expectation of privacy.
Elena Estrada locked her single dorm room and left for class. Campus police used a master key to enter and search her desk and laptop bag after obtaining only the dean's verbal approval. Estrada moved to suppress the notebooks and cash seized during the entry.
Lina left her hotel room to go sightseeing. Officers asked the resort manager to open the locked in-room safe and photographed its contents without a warrant or Lina's consent. Lina moved to suppress the photographs at her subsequent trial.
Lee stored private files on servers belonging to NimbusCloud. Detectives entered the office and copied all user data directly from the servers without a warrant or company consent. Lee moved to suppress evidence taken from his private files.
Jordan placed a closed backpack in the aisle of a long-distance bus. A trained dog pawed the bag during a sweep, and an officer immediately unzipped it and found pills. Jordan moved to suppress the contents of the backpack.
Edith Eberhardt boarded a MetroCoach bus with a carry-on bag. Transit officers ordered all passengers to place bags on seats for a dog sniff and then unzipped her bag without consent or a warrant. Eberhardt moved to suppress the items recovered from the bag.
A guest possesses a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hotel room and in containers within it that are provided for exclusive use. Management's limited access for maintenance or emergencies does not equate to common authority that would permit consent to a police search. Officers therefore need a warrant or a recognized exception before opening the safe.
Supporting sources
A student maintains a reasonable expectation of privacy in a locked single dorm room comparable to that in a private apartment. Administrative approval from a dean does not supply valid third-party consent because the dean lacks common authority over the student's private living space. Campus police must therefore obtain a warrant or satisfy an exception before entering and searching.
…to concede him the right to remain silent. "This usually has a very undermining effect. First of all, he is disappointed in his expectation of an unfavorable reaction on the part of the interrogator. Secondly, a concession of this right to remain silent impresses the subject with the apparent fairness of his…
…invasion of his rights by federal agents. In respondents' view, however, the rights that petitioner asserts—primarily rights of
Supporting sources
Private digital files stored on business servers can still be the subject of a reasonable expectation of privacy. Physical access and copying of the data by officers without a warrant or consent constitutes a search and seizure. The location of the data on company equipment does not automatically eliminate the privacy interest.
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Opening and inspecting the interior of a closed backpack is a full search that intrudes on a strong expectation of privacy in personal effects. A dog sniff in a public place does not itself constitute a search, but the subsequent physical opening requires probable cause and a warrant or valid exception. Without those protections the search is unreasonable.
Supporting sources