Misuse of private information

Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers plc HL TLR 7 May

Once again, the law has been decided by a 3:2 majority of the House of Lords, in this case, that detailed information about a celebrity’s treatment for drug addiction when published together with covertly taken photographs taken of her outside the place where she was being treated, constituted an interference with her right to respect for her private life which outweighed the publisher’s right to freedom of expression, even though, in the circumstances, the publication of the fact that she was a drug addict was justified. The claimant, an international fashion model, had been manipulative and selective in what she had revealed about herself as someone who, in contrast to many models, had managed to keep clear of illegal drugs. The true position was that she had abused drugs and this had caused medical problems which had affected her behaviour to such an extent that she had required and received therapy for her addiction.