Court ruling reinforces privacy rights for Canadians,
We should all be able to agree that a high school teacher should not be allowed to take non-consensual videos of his students’ breasts to use for his own sexual gratification.
Girls should be able to go to school without the worry that their teacher is going to sexually exploit them using a hidden camera pen.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with that sentiment.
In its decision, Canada’s highest court found that girls do have a reasonable expectation of privacy while they are at school, and convicted high school teacher, Ryan Jarvis, of voyeurism for taking secret videos of his students’ breasts with his camera pen while talking with them on the school grounds.
The court affirmed it is illegal for teachers to take secret images of students for a sexual purpose, even if the students are in plain view of other people in the hallways, or if they are in view of the school’s security cameras.
This privacy protection is not limited to protecting students on school grounds. Chief Justice Richard Wagner said that he “would likely have reached the same conclusion even if (the videos) had been made by a stranger on a public street rather than by a teacher at school in breach of a school policy.”
This is good news for individuals at risk of having their photos taken without consent while out in public or semipublic spaces, and used for a sexual purpose. Their bodies are no longer open fodder for other people’s sexual gratification.
This decision will be particularly important to groups whose sexual privacy has been historically violated with little legal recourse, including women and girls, young people, Indigenous people, racialized people, and members of the LGBTQ++ community.
For example, research by The eQuailty Project found that of the 76 reported voyeurism trials they examined, 100 per cent of people accused and convicted of voyeurism were men. The victims were predominantly women, girls, or young boys. This decision will increase their right to be free from sexual invasions in public spaces.
No one should be fearful, even while in a public place, that another person is going to secretly take a picture or video of them to take home and use for their own sexual purposes, or worse, to post the images on the internet on a “creepshot” website so thousands of other people can also pleasure themselves with the image. The thought of someone doing that makes you want to stay inside.
It is important that in an era of ubiquitous surveillance, the Supreme Court recognized that simply because technological advances make new recording possibilities available, that does not mean that individuals have a lowered expectation of privacy.
In fact, advances in technology seemed to be on the mind of the chief justice as he wrote the majority decision. He provides several compelling examples where individuals should be able to expect privacy including from a drone taking high resolution photos of swimmers at a public pool.
He further emphasized how modern technology allows for ease in storing, manipulating and distributing these images, adding to the potential risks of privacy violations.
At a time when almost everyone has a miniature camera in their pocket, the court’s affirmation that we do not abandon our privacy expectations simply by stepping out into public sends an important message about privacy in an increasingly technological and image-based world.
This is good news for individuals at risk of having their photos taken without consent while out in public or semipublic spaces, and used for a sexual purpose.