ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the concepts of confidentiality and privacy at common law and how the notion of privacy was further developed by the courts since the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998. It aims to clarify and distinguish the terms 'confidentiality' and 'privacy' in English common law and European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. As English common law developed, before the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) came into force, the law concerned itself mainly with constitutional convention rights and the obligation of confidence to control confidential information. The common law or, more precisely, the courts of equity, have long afforded protection to the wrongful use of private information by means of the cause of action which became known as breach of confidence. As common law developed post-HRA 1998 we can observe that the public interest defence advanced by newspapers and media organizations can be successful.
