what would happen if all privacy laws were ended?

Answer 1

Well, it depends what you mean by privacy laws. There are many different laws that could be called that.

Some protect the distribution of private information about people. If those were eliminated, then the only limitations would be under contractual agreements that defined how information would be used, and under the common law torts relating to public distribution of private facts, false light or false appropriation of likeness.

Some protect private property. Again, if the statutes are eliminated, there are still tort actions for trespass or intrusion upon seclusion, as well as the general common law requirements for landlord-tenant interaction.

Statutory privacy laws generally provide a set of guidelines as to what is and is not acceptable, and provide a cause of action if someone violates those guidelines. Without the common definitions, people are still able to rely upon contractual agreements regarding private information and the common law torts that have been around for centuries.

So, in sum, what would happen is that things would get a lot less consistent, and the courts would go back to trying to fit a round peg into a square hole by applying common law tort and contract actions to the field.