by Sheila Dean

In these late days of 2016, we have witnessed both triumphs and disheartening losses to individual privacy.  I believe we are suffering from the unique pain of uncontrolled reputation growth due to a predators’ market for individual data and corrupt government interloping.  Prior to the Internet age, this type of pain was experienced by the wealthy and famous.  I would say because our prospects have been so thoroughly trampled, we should look to an example of success in personal privacy protection.

A good example this year would be David Bowie, who by some miracle, managed to keep his cancer affliction far from notice prior to the marvel release of his final work, Blackstar.

However, a far more relevant example would be someone who:

·      suffered extensive losses of privacy at the hands of someone they trusted.

·      was invaded by strange assailants motivated by profits and demand for poached identity.

·      who succeeded despite personal losses and injury to privacy.  

That person would be Paris Hilton, Hilton hotelier heiress, reality TV star and perfumery magnate.

Paris Hilton, was an American princess of sorts during much of the 2000’s, as a reality television star in The Simple Life. Her known initiation to privacy battleground began with an infamous Internet porn video called, One Night In Paris.  She suffered a profound betrayal at the hands of a boyfriend who conveyed the worst kind of contempt for her humanity. He shot a pornographic video on a Night Vision camera while she was intoxicated. He uploaded the recording of her on the Internet against her knowledge and consent. It was then sold for profit. Today, we might call this revenge porn.  It is now a developing area of criminal law. 

As a result of this, she met with a very real form of uncontrolled reputation growth; which led to some physical and psychological peril. You could liken it to some combination of identity theft, public image infringement, violation of common privacy law and defamation. It was a full-blown reputation crisis for her brand; which had long lasting impacts to her personal safety.  At the beginning, she was not able to control an intimate area of her life when it is shared against her will.  This has happened to so many people this year on a large scale spectrum.  People have lost banking privacy, identity privacy, personal privacy, health privacy and they have no control over who has seen it or where it lands. We now have a lot more in common with Paris Hilton than Donald Trump.

Paris Hilton is an example of how the worst kind of privacy loss nightmare can be overcome. She managed this crisis.  She contained the breach.  She used legal means to sue for the rights to the license of her identity properties and stop further proliferation of the video transactions for profit. If the video was sold, she sued for all of the profits.  She won her case in courts.  She had means and legal recourse to defend her interests and she did.  Even if you believe you don’t have the monetary means to defend yourself in a civil case, you should always explore all means to protect yourself.

Unfortunately, we know the assault on Paris’ humanity and personal privacy did not stop at the containment of the porn video. She was routinely assaulted by paparazzi. They stalked and harassed her everywhere she went.  We now know this exceeded the needs of studio and routine contract work to take “candid lifestyle” photos of a celebrity in public.  It was privately subsidised by people who wanted follow up on the woman they saw compromised in a reputation rape online. 

She wasn’t alone in this by any means.  This was a period of extraordinarily kinetic aggressive paparazzi photographers in Hollywood. These were greedy psychopaths who would have been better channelled for war coverage photojournalism than clandestine hunt and capture of celebrity images. To all of our misfortune, they did not meet with a fairer fate being blown up somewhere in Fallujah. They followed Paris anywhere she went. Paris’ images were sold and traded again, without her consent.  I’m not sure if she pursued civil action against all companies who successively hounded her outside of the professional bounds of her contracts. I do know is that she, and other celebrity professionals, like her seemed to get organized.

Legal representation emerged in Sacramento in 2010 as a series of paparazzi bills, protective of child privacy and personal privacy of people with a public image which later became law. Civil privacy has been sustained by Paris’ wins for public image. It is strengthened with each case win like hers.  In 2015, Hulk Hogan, WWF wrestling icon, had the legal precedence in the court system to bring Gawker to financial ruin for publishing a prOn video.

There were psychological impacts to Hilton’s unwanted attention and uncontrolled fame.  She sought support from people who shared the dysfunctional reputation battering she did. Most notably Britney Spears. That solution became a problem when substance abuse entered the arena as a coping mechanism.  So many people who have boundary trauma move to substance abuse to self-medicate.  She also overcame this dynamic.  She did it privately.

I believe the secret to Paris Hilton’s success as a privacy crisis leader and revenge mogul was not rocket science. It was a personal choice.  She believed she had a choice and legal options in the chaotic outcome of her privacy loss.  Her self-determination led her to take control of her reputation. Her choice was soon endorsed by another person, her mother. From there it snowballed.  She had as much support as she needed to pursue steps that would, literally, make the offenders pay for their invasive behavior.

People need a support network of those they trust in order to make personal privacy possible.  Privacy is a family matter. Those closest to you need to be a part of your legal vanguard and serve as a phalanx against privacy infringements as you face a world filled with offensive threats against your personal privacy and your wellbeing. Do your best to find those trustworthy enough to support your quest for privacy.  You must now defend your privacy, as yourself, but not by yourself.

There came a time when the government turned its back on legal protection of privacy and of US citizens. There came a time when privacy advocates became bogged down in Capitol politics. The US Attorney’s General did not file criminal charges on behalf of The People against public privacy perpetrators because no one thought it was worth it. Public perpetrators continue to drive an unethical demand for private information in the marketplace. The corrupt exonerate those who provide them with private information of any wrong doing. Whistleblowers, soon after clearing their throats, became targets of criminal retaliation campaigns in government.  The times now demand every family find themselves capable in support of their own privacy outcomes or they won’t have any security for themselves.

Paris Hilton is the kind of example we all really need right now. She survived the worst.  She was known to be seen suffering due to the imbalances privacy losses will cause as a human being.  The only way you will preserve your personal success is by managing the boundaries of your privacy.  Paris Hilton succeeded in this objective.

So where is she now?

She quietly became a billionairess. She kept the progress of her personal fortune out of monstrous press as a master of her reputation. The way to preserve your personal success is by managing the boundaries of your privacy and your reputation.

She is a formidable opponent of unethical media who messed with the wrong woman and the wrong family. Her private life is the most powerful proof of her overcoming.  She ascended from privacy catastrophe to enormous personal success.  She now controls the ways she is being seen. 

She is still being seen afterall! Her style is now emulated by Princess Kate Middleton and Kylie Jenner. She balances fame and meaningful privacy.

I have no real award to present to her today. If I did, it would be the Privacy Comeback Award. 

Thank you, Paris Hilton, for not just making it possible, but inevitable for others to overcome the barriers to personal privacy and succeed if they just make the choice to do so and follow through.