The Protection of Personal Information of England under the Common Law Duty of Confidence

Abstract

It is a fundamental right for everyone to have the right to protect his or her own personal information. The purpose for the right is to ensure that everyone has the right to be let alone without interference by others. In England, the protection of personal information has been developed via the Common law duty of confidence. The fundamental concept for the protection is that there has been the duty of confidence between the confidant and the confider that the confidant is placed under the duty of good faith to the confider. Therefore the disclosure of personal information without consent from the confider leads to breach of duty of confidence.

The study shows that there are three elements to constitute the breach for duty of confidence. Firstly, the information that has been imparted, must have the necessary quality of confidence in itself. This means that the information must not become public knowledge or public property. Secondly, the information must have been imparted in circumstances imparting an obligation of confidence. This means, it needs to consider whether or not the relationship between the confidant and confider is one which leads to an obligation of confidence. Thirdly, the confidential information must have been disclosed or used without authorization and to the detriment of the confider. Moreover, an important exception to the duty of confidentiality is where the public interest in disclosure is engaged and outweighs the interest in protecting the confidence.