Privacy is a person’s legally protected interest in preventing government or other intrusion into their homes; their communications (phone, e-mail, in-person); their luggage; certain compartments of their motor vehicle (glovebox, trunk); their personally identifiable information (PII); their body (hair, clothing, unexposed body parts); their image and likeness (through unauthorized use); and other information, places, and property (real and personal) in which persons have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

People generally do not have a right to privacy from being photographed or heard (if done without use of surreptitious electronic or other surveillance technologies) in public places—essentially, when they step outside of their home. There are exceptions to this general rule in which persons do have a right to privacy—such as in a doctor’s exam room or when making a phone call in a phone booth.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects people against government intrusions into their privacy.

And state and federal laws (statutes and court opinions) generally protect persons from unauthorized use of their personal information and from intrusions into their privacy by nongovernmental persons or entities. These protected privacy interests are generally limited to areas in which persons have a reasonable expectation of privacy (home, health information, image and likeness, e-mail communications, etc.)—and these laws vary from state to state.

In New Mexico (NM), privacy is recognized as a legally protected interest, aligning with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which safeguards individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. This protection extends to various aspects of personal privacy, including the sanctity of one's home, personal communications, luggage, certain areas of a motor vehicle, personally identifiable information (PII), physical body, and image. New Mexico law, like federal law, also provides protections against the unauthorized use of personal information by non-governmental entities. However, the right to privacy is not absolute in public spaces, where individuals generally cannot expect privacy from being photographed or overheard, unless they are in situations that traditionally warrant privacy, such as in a medical facility or using a private phone booth. State statutes and case law in New Mexico further detail the extent of these privacy rights and the circumstances under which they apply, reflecting the principle that privacy expectations are context-dependent and must be reasonable.