The Importance Of Privacy In English Law

Introduction: Traditionally speaking, privacy has not been directly protected in English Law but, nonetheless, is a rapidly growing area of English Law due to pressing issues such as the role of the internet in privacy, unlawful interference on behalf of governments, and others that will be analysed further below. Privacy law considers in what instances does an individual have a legal right to informational privacy. Laws of this nature are typically considered as part of criminal law or the law of tort, but that has not been the case with privacy and has only enjoyed limited protection through the doctrine of breach of confidence and champloo of related legislation on topics like data protection and harassment. The Human Rights Act (the "Act")

It was not until the passing of the Act and the incorporation of the Convention into domestic legislation that a new perspective to the question of protection of privacy was adopted, which allowed judges to develop civil wrongs dealing with particular forms of invasion of privacy: disclosing private information and wrongfully obtaining access to private information. That being said, in the case of Wainwright v Home Office, the House of Lords held that there is no tortious liability under English Law for "invasion of privacy" because Article 8 of the Convention does not create such a cause of action. Furthermore, it was postulated that it would not be favourable for English Law to give effect to a general right to privacy as the particulars of every scenario needs legislators to establish precise guidelines for claims and defences in the very diverse scenarios in which a violation of privacy can occur, rather than a judicial attempt to derive a solution from a broad