Privacy and Confidence Law

Question 1

What gives people privacy.

Answer 1

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right to privacy in respect to their private and family life, their home, and their correspondence.

Question 2

Exceptions to privacy

Answer 2

Public safety, national security, prevention of crime, protection of morals, protection of rights and freedom of others.

Question 3

Remedies for breach of privacy

Answer 3

Damages, Injunctions, super Injunctions, Injunction Contra Mundum

Question 4

How will a judge decide whether there has been a breach of privacy?

Answer 4

Must first prove there was a reasonable expectation of privacy. After that, Article 10 of the EHC (Freedom of expression) is considered against article 8, and whether the publication is in the public’s interest.

Question 5

Which Editor’s Code clause relates to privacy?

Answer 5

Clause 2

Question 6

Information considered private.

Answer 6

Health, relationships, correspondance, family, home. Children and stuff in public domain can also be considered having reasonable expectation.

Question 7

Three things involved in a breach of confidence.

Answer 7

A ‘necessary quality of confidence’, imparted in circumstances imposing an obligation of confidence, and unauthorised use of the information detrimentally impacted the communicating party

Question 8

Remedies for breach of confidence

Answer 8

Injunctions to stop publication, an order that the material be destroyed or delivered, damages or account of profit, judge order to reveal the confidential source.

Question 9

Defences for breach of confidence

Answer 9

Material not having the necessary quality of confidence because of its nature (e.g trivial or unlikely to cause detriment) or already in the public domain.
Public interest (e.g to expose wrongdoing, negligence, or hypocrisy.