discretion should not be unfettered, it must be able to achieve the stated aim,
and must be proportionate.801
9. Tensions may exist between the right to privacy and other rights, including the
right to freedom of expression. For example, private information may be
disseminated in the media and in this context human rights bodies have held
that a balance needs to be struck between the individual and the overall public
interest in reporting the issue.802 Similarly, where telephone calls of a lawyer
were intercepted and then used to convict him of a crime, there was no violation
of the right to privacy.803
A. Privacy and intrusive publications
10. Political figures, famous people, royalty and celebrities have sought to rely on
private life rights to protect their private life from media intrusion.804 It is also
relevant in relation to media intrusion into the lives of ordinary people, for
example where a publication implies that someone is guilty of a crime when
they are not,805 or identifies a person as suffering from an illness which may
result in them being stigmatised socially and professionally.806 The publication
of private information about a former president of Argentina where this
information was already well known, the former president had not treated it as
confidential, and considered to be in the public interest, was not held to be a
violation of his right to privacy by the Inter-American Court.807
B. Personal data and data protection
11. ‘The gathering and holding of personal information on computers, data banks
and other devices, whether by public authorities or private individuals or bodies,
must be regulated by law’.808
12. The ability to exchange relevant information quickly and efficiently between the
police, the security services and other public bodies can be essential in
developing an intelligence led approach to counter terrorism. As a result of the
international nature of terrorism, this can also require the sharing of information
across borders.
13. The exchange of private information, for whatever reason, about an individual
between public bodies, whether internally or internationally, will engage private
801
A/HRC/23/40, para 29. See also Human Rights Committee, General Comment No.27,
CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9 (1999)..
802
A/HRC/23/40, para 27.
803
Human Rights Committee, Communication 903/1999, Hulst v Netherlands, 1 November 2004
804
European Court, Spencer v UK, 7 April 2008.
805
European Court, A v Norway, 9 July 2009.
806
European Court, C.C. v Spain, 6 October 2009.
807
Fontevecchia & D’Amico v. Argentina, 29 November 2011, Series C, No. 238.
808
Human Rights Committee, General Comment No.16, HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 at 142 (2003), para 10. See
also United Nations, General Assembly Resolution 45/95, Guidelines for the regulation of computerised
personal data files Adopted on 14 December 1990, A/RES/45/95.
131
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents