ABSTRACT
It may hardly be doubted that the lack of a tort of invasion of privacy aimed at the protection of personal information is one of the most serious lacunae in English law. Described by the Law Commission as ‘a glaring inadequacy’,2 and condemned by the Court of Appeal,3 dicta in a recent decision of the House of Lords4 remarked upon’…the continuing, widespread concern at the apparent failure of the law’ in this area.5 A number of persons or bodies may acquire, store, disclose or publish personal information without the consent of the subject of it. The acquisition and use of personal information by State agents, with the purpose of preventing or detecting crime or protecting national security, is considered in Chapter 11. But the use of personal information by a range of private and public bodies for other purposes is considered here. The press is one of the worst offenders, in terms of acquiring and publishing personal information nonconsensually, and therefore the use of various legal provisions against the press forms a central theme in this chapter. But it should also be pointed out that the internet represents in one sense a far greater threat to privacy, since by its nature it may render developments in the law otiose.6 Even assuming that the developments discussed below lead eventually to a respect for personal privacy not evident at present in the publishing of a number of media bodies, especially the tabloid press, this threat may lead to a further re-evaluation of the legal approach to the protection of privacy.7
