Do teens have privacy rights on the internet?

[Jessica S.]

So I have a friend, and she's 13, turning 14 in a couple weeks. Her parents have installed a software to track everything she does on her computer, iPod, and Facebook and Twitter on other computers. I think this is an EXTREME violation of privacy. Don't teens have privacy rights? I mean, they can see her personal messages to peopple. That is unfair. I just want to punch somebody, because this is like having a free pass search warrant..which is unconstitutional. Just somebody tell me what I can do if this is illegal?

[Teekno]

Yes, she does have privacy rights.

But not from her parents.

[Danielle]

Nah it's her parents. I agree, overboard. But they want her to be safe. If you want try talking with them about it, how it's unfair. :/ good luck~

[CW]

Entirely legal.

[mnwomen]

None nowhere no how

[An Electic Pagan]

Yes but in this case she has no privacy rights parents are an exclusion

[Chrysanthemum2011]

Remember that anything that is posted, tweeted, etc. is never every really private. None of it. Someone, somewhere, always has access and can pull up the information. She has no privacy rights from parents, since she is a minor and living under their rules. If they are paying, they get to set the rules. If she does not like it, she can try to emancipate herself, support herself, pay her own rent, buy her own food, do her own laundry, and be 100% responsible for herself. Then, and only then, can she exercise privacy from her parents. But someone, somewhere, will always be able to pull up anything she posts or tweets, etc.

[peaceoutlovemuch]

Unfortunately, parenting is not unconstitutional.

To her this may seem incredibly unfair, but the whole safety/tracking thing is at the discretion of the parents. If she was 18 or older and this was happening, that would be different. She does have privacy rights, but she is living under the roof of her parents. It would be a different story if the government was tracking her.

About the search warrant, it only includes officials searching. Just because your mom goes through your laundry looking for a piece of paper doesn't mean that she searched through your stuff without a warrant, and it therefore unconstitutional.

At this point, I would have her talk to her parents if this is a huge deal for her. While the government is not involved in this, it would be a good idea to sort out these issues.

[Howard L]

Not only is it legal for them to track her internet usage but believe it or not, and I know this will be hard to believe, they can even take her computer away.

[Quizzard]

She has no privacy rights anywhere over her parents. They control her life. Who she sees, where she goes, who she talks to, what she does online. 100%, no questions.

The Constitution does not protect children from their parents, it protects adults from the government.

BTW, it's not HER ipod, computer, etc, it belongs legally to her parents.