Personal Privacy

The public has the right to know the events that might put the lives of people at risk. A warning, a simple picture or video, can save many lives, but as with everything else, there is a price to be paid. When a picture serves to communicate a message to the public, it also exposes the personal privacy of those involved in the picture and their families. A picture then becomes a double-sided sword that needs to be used correctly. There is a line that sets the limit on how a picture can be used, a line created by morality. On the one hand repulsive images show the truth about the attackers and the world in general, on the other hand, they traumatize the victims’ families and invade their personal privacy. Personal privacy and public education
The gruesome truth of their death will erase all the wonderful and happy times that they once shared and it will replace them with the reality that they did not want to face. For example, Daniel Pearl’s “killers videotaped Pearl… being decapitated [and] a man’s arm holding Pearl’s head.” The decapitation of Pearl was the last image that his family saw of him and it is going to be the one that they are going to remember him with. Whenever his name is mentioned, his family will immediately think about how he died and those disturbing pictures will take over their minds and erase the person they would like to remember and change him into a distorted version. “We had hoped that no part of this tape would ever see the light of day,” declared a spokeswoman for the Pearl family. His family did not have to pay the price for the public’s information and the propaganda of the attackers, especially if they did not agree to release the
Some pictures can provide valuable information, but it is accomplished at the expense of someone or something else; everything has a price and someone needs to pay for it. People’s morality is stronger than pictures and based on it a line is created on what is acceptable and what not. Some pictures can save many lives, but they can also ruin so many others. Does revealing some pictures benefit everyone and is it revealing some pictures the best for society? Pictures should only be made public when those involved or family members give the authorization to do so. However, if pictures go to the public light for any reason the identity of those involved should be protected. Personal privacy should be protected at all