How is privacy protected?
Privacy is protected by a patchwork of laws that overlap with or protect specific aspects of privacy. English common law provides protection for information with a quality of confidence and which has been provided in circumstances that create an obligation of confidence from unauthorised use. Telephone conversations have been subject to prohibitions on recording and interception for many decades.
A much broader body of law has emerged since the late 1990s, as a result of the UK’s membership of the European Union, and its obligation to be consistent with such documents as the European Convention on Human Rights. This gave rise to the Human Rights Act, including Articles 8 and 14 relating to private life and discrimination. The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates the processing of information relating to individuals, including the collection, use and disclosure of such information. In addition, it appears that the courts may be developing a tort of privacy, although to date its primary application appears to be in relation to the media’s treatment of celebrities.
A more extensive list of laws which affect or protect privacy rights in the UK can be found in Chapter VI legal compliance checking.