data-protection-and-journalism-a-guide-for-the-media-draft

Data protection and journalism
2
Balancing privacy with
freedom of expression
In brief…
The right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression are both
important rights, and neither automatically trumps the other. The Data
Protection Act protects people’s information privacy, but also recognises
the importance of freedom of expression, aiming to strike a fair balance.
The ICO must also consider the importance of freedom of expression
when deciding how best to use its powers in the public interest.
Convention rights
Any guidance in this area must recognise and respect the underlying rights
at stake: the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression.
Both rights are considered fundamental to our democratic society. They
are both enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
and incorporated into UK law via the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA).
Article 8 of the ECHR sets out the right to privacy:
(1) Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family
life, his home and his correspondence.
(2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the
exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with
the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the
interests of national security, public safety or the economic
well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or
crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the
protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
DRAFT 7