Privacy and misuse of private information

Privacy law in the UK comprises several elements:

  1. the right to respect for a private and family life in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998)

  2. the tort of misuse of private information, which protects citizens from unwarranted intrusion (Campbell v MGN), and

  3. provisions in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA 1997), which protect individual privacy

There is no single, overarching right to privacy in English law. However, HRA 1998 and the incorporation of Article 8 of the ECHR into domestic law mean that aspects of private life can be protected from unwarranted intrusion.

Right to a private and family life

Article 8(1) of the ECHR protects a person’s right ‘to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence’. Underlying this right is the value attached by society to human dignity and autonomy; the effective protection of Article 8 rights enables individuals to pursue their own lives and to form relationships.

The Strasbourg jurisprudence

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Commission launches consultation to revise the EU Cybersecurity Act and strengthen the EU cybersecurity framework

The European Commission launched a call for evidence to support the preparation of a legislative proposal to revise the EU Cybersecurity Act. The initiative aims to strengthen EU cyber resilience, update the mandate of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and improve the effectiveness of the European Cybersecurity Certification Framework. The Commission noted that the cybersecurity landscape has become significantly more complex and threat‑intensive since the Act’s adoption in 2019, while subsequent EU legislation has expanded ENISA’s tasks beyond its original mandate, creating the need to streamline, simplify and supplement the existing framework to ensure coherence, reduce administrative burdens and improve implementation for businesses and users. The initiative focuses on measures to support a secure and resilient Information and Communication Technology supply chain and the EU cybersecurity industrial base, addresses shortcomings in the certification framework such as slow adoption, unclear roles, limited agility and insufficient clarity on covered risks, including non‑technical factors, and considers alignment with newer instruments such as the Cyber Resilience Act. The Commission outlined policy options ranging from non‑legislative measures to targeted or comprehensive regulatory revision, stating that EU‑level action is required to prevent internal market fragmentation and to secure long‑term economic and social benefits through greater harmonisation, stronger cybersecurity and resilience, more efficient incident response and enhanced protection of fundamental rights, including personal data. The call for evidence will run until 20 June 2025.

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