--- title: Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy | TIME description: The fourth amendment to the constitution guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and is often argued as protecting our right to privacy canonical: https://time.com/video/5RNWfl7X/ og:title: Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy og:description: The fourth amendment to the constitution guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and is often argued as protecting our right to privacy og:url: https://time.com/video/5RNWfl7X/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5RNWfl7X/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy twitter:description: The fourth amendment to the constitution guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and is often argued as protecting our right to privacy twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5RNWfl7X/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy [Watch (HLS stream): Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5RNWfl7X.m3u8) (4:03)  _Published 2011-06-28. The fourth amendment to the constitution guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and is often argued as protecting our right to privacy_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:14 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [GOP DEBATE 011416: Rubio: "Second amendment is a constitutional right"](/video/HR4FUW6Q/) ### GOP DEBATE 011416: Rubio: "Second amendment is a constitutional right" [The Tenth Amendment and States' Rights](/video/5N4osmQj/) ### The Tenth Amendment and States' Rights [The Ninth Amendment and Your Unwritten Rights](/video/M2sW3isF/) ### The Ninth Amendment and Your Unwritten Rights --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The right of the people The right of the people. To be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects Against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not Shall not Shall not be violated. One of the things that provoked the American Revolution was British attempt to tax American trade. If truth be told, much of that trade was occurring in violation of English Customs Laws, in other words, smuggling What the British did was begin to search American ships, search American homes for these smuggled goods. The origins of the fourth amendment was to stop these general searches, these warrants that basically said Search anyone. And no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause. Supported by oath or affirmation. And particularly describing the place to be searched And the persons or things to be ceased. [ MUSIC ] The other origin in the Fourth Amendment was seditious liable, was people speaking up against the government. The soldier would come to the door, they could search the homes, they could take anything, and what the, the soldiers were actually looking for was signs of an insurrection. signs of disgruntled people. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and affects Shall not Shall not be violated. Why are houses mentioned above and beyond all other buildings? Cuz a house is a seat of privacy. If the government is gonna intrude upon us, if it's gonna enter my house and do a search, if it's gonna do those thing it has to act reasonably. Today's Fourth Amendment is not unlike the original Fourth Amendment. It still governs the extent to which the government can intrude into your property or your privacy. If you see a suspicious looking character walking down the street, do you have probable cause to, to search that individual? Those are judgments that law enforcement officers Have to make every single day. And no warrant. And no warrant And no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause. [ MUSIC ] One of the critical parts of the fourth amendment is the exclusionary rule which says if the government searches somebody and they shouldn't have then. Evidence can't be used in court. The exclusionary rule poses a very substantial cost when someone actually did it. Very often we know the person is guilty. The government search, we found the goods, we can see them and now the person says you can't use them against me because you didn't have a warrant. And that's what makes the fourth amendment so very controversial. [ MUSIC ] We also have, as time goes by, an expansion from the tangible items set out in the fourth amendment. Papers, effects, to intangible items. The fourth amendment was implicated when the Bush aministration was wire tapping people in the war on terror. [ MUSIC ] It's implicated for searches of people's computers. For programs that record your keystrokes when you're typing on your computer. Thermal heat sensors to see whether people are growing marijuana in their homes or in their warehouses. Think about the Internet. Think about your cellphone. All of these things now are covered by the Fourth Amendment. And, we have to look at what the framers had in mind when it comes to unreasonable searches and seizures by the Federal government. And realize what makes our Constitution, this wonderful document, is the fact that it has grown with us as we've grown as a country. If not, then it would just be a piece of paper behind glass. 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