Dear Abby: Does concern for safety ever justify invading a parent’s privacy?
Dear Abby: Does concern for safety ever justify invading a parent’s privacy?
Publish Date: 2026-02-09 17:00:00
Source Domain: www.cleveland.com
Dear Abby: I disagree with your response to “Dutiful Daughter in Alabama” (Nov. 10), who put a camera in her 80-year-old mom’s den in case of a fall and overheard Mom make negative comments about her. Installing a camera in someone’s home without their consent is disgusting and wrong, legally and morally. The elderly, in addition to the rest of the population, have a right to privacy in their own homes.
If “Dutiful Daughter” was really concerned about her mother falling, she should have considered a medical alert device, which would have notified family and summoned medical help the moment she fell. This is the safer, legal and common-sense solution.
It sounds like “Dutiful” had other undisclosed reasons for installing a camera. Why did she listen to a conversation that was clearly private? How would she know if her mother fell in another room of the house? If her mother was talking on the phone or visiting with her son, it should have been clear that she was OK and no additional spying was required.
After reading this letter, if children think it is OK to invade their parents’ privacy without their consent, I’m happier than ever to be child-free.
— ANNE P. IN MINNESOTA
Dear Anne: To put it mildly, you are not the only reader who disagreed with my answer to that letter. I confess, I didn’t consider the privacy issues that were ignored. Mea culpa.
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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, California 90069. Copyright 2026, Andrews McMeel Syndication.
