ABSTRACT
An individual right to privacy emerged at international law in the 1950s, with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights1 enunciating a broad, general protection for a person’s private and family life, home and correspondence from arbitrary interference by the State. The right is qualified, insofar as the State may interfere with personal privacy: in pursuit of a legitimate objective (such as public order);2 in accordance with the law; and where such interference is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society. Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights3 adopts a similar
model, and most countries now have constitutional guarantees of a general (if qualified) right to privacy. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 1982 does not contain a specific guarantee of the right to privacy, but four provinces provide statutory protection.4 Australia – one of the very rare democracies without a Bill of Rights – does offer information/data privacy protection through the federal Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), as well as similar laws in the states and territories. Privacy protection has come under enormous challenge in recent times, with the
development of the internet, e-commerce and social networking, rapid advances in computing power and other information and communication technologies, and increasing concerns about international terrorism, organised crime and money laundering. Most of the public attention has been focused on information privacy and audio-visual surveillance (in public places and at work), with growing concerns about the increasing collection, storage and use of personal information held in public and private databases, as well as the now routine transborder flow of this data.5
