Spark

An animal's right to privacy in the digital age

Exploring the idea of creating privacy rights for animals.
This cat is wearing a device that tracks information about pets, such as the location and other animals the pet might be interacting with. Could this infringe on the cat's privacy? (REUTERS)

Humans have been observing and documenting animals for a long time. But technology has changed the way we go about it. We now have so many ways of watching animals, from people sharing videos of their pets on YouTube, to live videostreaming of animals in the wild. In this new landscape, would animals benefit from a right to privacy they way we do?

Brandon Keim thinks so. He's a science journalist who recently wrote an article exploring the idea of creating privacy rights for animals.