ABSTRACT
The qualifications to the plain view principle which the author will consider are called for because information that is readily accessible to one or a few people by legitimate means may still be information in which one has a legitimate privacy interest. In the McNamara example it may be hard to see any distinction between these two reasons to qualify the plain view principle: publishing the photo at once affronts his dignity and memorializes the incident and makes it available to a wide audience. One can have a legitimate interest in privacy even if, taking all things into account including society’s interests in free speech or in fighting crime; one should not be able reasonably to expect privacy. People living in Nazi Germany could expect little privacy in their homes given widespread surveillance practices; but that those practices were widespread does not mean they were legitimate. Non-US courts have similarly recognized legitimate privacy interests in public places.
