BEYOND INFORMATION: PHYSICAL PRIVACY IN ENGLISH LAW

Abstract

AbstractAlthough English privacy law has developed significantly over the past two decades, it continues to focus almost exclusively on the disclosure of private or confidential information. This article argues that if privacy is to be comprehensively protected, then the importance of physical privacy – which is breached when a person is looked at, listened to or recorded against his or her wishes – must also be recognised. After discussing what physical privacy is and why existing protections for it are inadequate, the author contends that a physical privacy action can, and should, be developed from within English common law.