Privacy Rights and the Law under the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution defines the legal expectations of privacy that individuals have against US government intrusion. Since the inception of the Fourth Amendment, case law has further contextualised and defined these expectations by focusing on what individuals expect to be private and what society is willing to recognise as such. Advances in law enforcement such as use of specially trained sniffer dogs and surveillance technology have further required court interpretation and guidance to define searches, seizures, and expectations of privacy. Despite the court attention and clear psychological implications, limited empirical research has been conducted on expectations of privacy pursuant to the Fourth Amendment.