Meaning & use
invading your privacy
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
intruding into someone's private life or personal information without their permission.
Grammar: Used after verbs like be, keep, or accuse someone of. The possessive changes: invading my/his/their privacy.
Patterns
- be invading your privacy
- accuse someone of invading your privacy
- feel that someone is invading your privacy
I turned off the app's location tracking because it felt like it was invading my privacy.
The reporter was accused of invading the family's privacy by publishing photos of their home.
Reading someone's messages without asking is a clear way of invading their privacy.
Common combinations
- invade someone's privacy
- The new security cameras may invade residents' privacy.
- an invasion of privacy
- Searching her bag without consent was an invasion of privacy.
- a privacy concern
- Data collection has become a major privacy concern.
- respect someone's privacy
- Please respect my privacy and don't call after ten.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intrude on
- Intrude on is slightly more formal and often suggests entering a place or situation where you are not welcome; invading privacy focuses on personal information or space.
- pry into
- Pry into suggests asking nosy questions or looking at private things; invading privacy is broader and can include technology or cameras.
Opposites
Word family
- invade verb
- to enter or intrude into something, often with force or without permission
- invasion noun
- the act of entering or intruding, especially of privacy or a country
- invasive adjective
- tending to spread or intrude in an unwanted way, as in invasive species or invasive questions
- privacy noun
- the state of being free from public attention or intrusion
Commonly confused: invading your privacy or invading your private?
invading your privacy vs invading your private
Private is an adjective and cannot stand alone as a noun here. Use the noun privacy: invading your privacy.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
Privacy is an uncountable noun, so it stays singular and takes no possessive ending here. 'Private' is an adjective and cannot be the object of invading; 'privacies' is not a normal plural; and 'privacy's' would need a following noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “invading your privacy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.