Excerpt from an email by #SalingerPrivacy - I wonder what the implications are for #privacy , particularly if it helps close off the loopholes built in to #australian #privacyprinciples .

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In an historic ruling, a Judge in the Victorian County Court has recognised a common law tort of invasion of privacy, distinct from the law of confidence, and awarded $30,000 in damages, in a matter brought by a woman against her estranged father.

Why does this matter?

This case shifts us closer to a scenario in which a person who has suffered an invasion of privacy – the breaching of the “private sphere” which protects “human dignity and autonomy”, via conduct that would be considered “highly offensive” by a reasonable person – can directly sue another person, or organisation, for damages.

Under a common law tort, unlike under constrained informational privacy statutes like the Privacy Act, there is no carveout for individuals, small businesses, political parties or the media. There is no exemption for employee records. There is no arguing about the finer points of the definition of ‘personal information’, or whether or not someone consented to something via a Privacy Policy. There is no need for a plaintiff to wait in the queue of complaints lodged with a privacy regulator. Anyone can sue anyone else.

In other words – every one, and every organisation, needs to understand that privacy, in its broader sense, is protected by law, and that offensive conduct which invades someone’s privacy could make you liable for damages.
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That is... interesting to see. That it affects _everyone_ makes me wonder how far reaching it could be.