Invasion of Privacy in the UK Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Invasion of Privacy in the UK - Coursework Example Remedies for the invasion of privacy are limited to informational privacy against private parties and broadly against public authorities.   It, therefore, follows that invasion of privacy is not a well-developed remedy in British law as it is restricted as this paper demonstrates.   An examination of the interpretation of Article 8 of ECHR demonstrates that the right to protection from governmental invasion is limited. Moreover, remedies for invasion of privacy under the Data Protection Act are of little use to the ordinary citizen.   Thus there is a need for the Supreme Court to declare a tort of invasion of privacy in the same manner as a right for infringement of other Convention rights can be claimed in tort. The law of privacy is not as developed in the UK as it is in the US.   However, there are remedies for invasion of privacy in the UK against government officials. The Younger Committee first recommended a tort for invasion of privacy in 1972. But the recommendation was rejected primarily on the grounds that imposing a tort for protection against invasion of privacy was difficult when balancing personal privacy against the wider public interest in protecting freedom of expression and the free exchange of information.   However, it is suggested that in a private situation, the free exchange of information and freedom of expression has little public utility as the value obtained from invading the privacy of an individual in private settings is limited. For instance, if an individual takes a photograph of his neighbor without his neighbor’s permission for his own personal use, there is no public benefit for the public and thus, there is no need to balance free expression with the protection of personal privacy.