Protecting Private Communications through Law and Policy: The Case of the Screenshot Feature

Abstract

Individuals rely on digital communication platforms to express the most intimate details of their lives with others. The screenshot feature threatens the ability to do this with confidence, authorizing nonconsensual information collection and sharing by interpersonal actors. In some instances, the harms enabled by the screenshot feature have incited legal action. This study analyzes how judges and policymakers have conceptualized and regulated screenshot collection and the sharing of private communications. Analysis of case law and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rulemakings reveal inconsistencies both within law and policy and as compared to evidence from social-media users. Judges have provided broad definitions of “authorization” and lofty thresholds to sustain individual harm, making statutory regulation of screenshot collection and sharing unlikely. However, guidance from the FTC has demonstrated a nuanced approach to privacy that recognizes the significance of platform design. Results suggest that design-based strategies—both ex ante and ex post—would be a promising step toward adjusting the norms around screenshot collection and sharing of digital messages.