The Protection of Privacy in Recent Chilean Judicial Rulings

Abstract

The text offers a critical account of Chilean Constitutional Court and Supreme Court’s rulings on privacy. It identifies the criteria used to qualify as private an internet-based communication stablished in order to share files through programs in a users’ network (P2P) or through electronic mail. It discusses the levels of protection granted to houses, private open spaces such as gardens and terraces, and public spaces against the regis- tration of images made by the State for public security purposes. Finally, it analyzes legal precedents regarding privacy protection against individuals, such as specialized journalists interested in the registration of private conversations with the aim of producing news, or employees interested in registering conversations with their employers in order to use them as evidence in court, or employers interested in registering private documents of their employees to investigate presumable disloyal acts.