Context and Background
Keyword(s):
The Law
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The law of privacy has come a long way since the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) came into force in October 2000. Before then, the prevailing view was that there was no right to privacy at common law and that it had ‘so long been disregarded here that it can be recognised only by the legislature’. Instead, indirect, piecemeal protection of privacy was afforded through existing causes of action where the facts of individual cases permitted it. Despite judicial dicta leaving the question open, this appears to have remained the position at least until the HRA came into force.