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Privacy As Quasi-Property, Lauren Henry Scholz

Scholarly Publications

Courts and commentators struggle to apply privacy law in a way that conforms to the intuitions of the average person. It is often assumed that the reason for this discrepancy is the absence of an agreed upon conceptual definition of privacy. In fact, the lack of a description of the interest invaded in a privacy matter is the more substantial hurdle. This Article provides such a description of the privacy interest.

Privacy is quasi-property. Quasi-property is a relational entitlement to exclude. Unlike real property, there is no freestanding right to exclude from a quasi-property interest absent reference to a relationship …