'Relational Privacy' & Tort

43 Pages Posted: 16 May 2017

See all articles by Stuart Hargreaves

Stuart Hargreaves

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law

Date Written: May 14, 2017

Abstract

This article argues that the current interpretation given to the four-part invasion of privacy framework by the courts is inadequate in the face of modern privacy challenges. In particular, it struggles with claims for privacy over public matters or other ‘non-secret’ matters in which an individual may nonetheless have some ongoing privacy interest. This article suggests that this struggle is the result of the courts adopting a fixed, binary approach to privacy, grounded in a liberal-individualistic account of autonomy. While this may be a natural response to concerns about limiting the scope of the tort, it is unnecessarily rigid. Feminist legal theory, however, offers a reconstructed account of autonomy grounded in the importance of supportive social contexts rather than the elimination of external influences. This article argues that the deep philosophical linkages between autonomy and privacy mean that by drawing on this reconstructed account of the former we can improve our approach to the latter. In turn, this points towards a legal regime that protects privacy not by focusing on a priori definitions of private places or things, but by focusing on the nature of the harm suffered by the claimant and its impact upon their role in the community. Though the courts have not yet recognized this approach by name, this article suggests that the seeds of it can be found in the expansion of the breach of confidence action used in some common law jurisdictions to protect privacy interests. This expansion has taken an action previously applicable only in the commercial context, and by focusing on the nature of the harm suffered by the claimant, has developed privacy protections in a way that may be more responsive to a range of modern privacy claims than the traditional freestanding privacy torts used in the United States and replicas of them elsewhere.

Keywords: law, privacy, legal theory, feminism, autonomy, liberty, tort, confidence

Suggested Citation

Hargreaves, Stuart, 'Relational Privacy' & Tort (May 14, 2017). William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, Vol. 23, No. 3, 2017, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper 2017-09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2968175

Stuart Hargreaves (Contact Author)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law ( email )

6F Lee Shau Kee Building
Shatin, New Territories
Shatin, New Territories
Hong Kong

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.cuhk.edu.hk/en/people/info.php?id=20

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