This is a book about privacy interests in English tort law. Despite the recent
recognition of a misuse of private information tort, English law remains underdeveloped.
The presence of gaps in the law can be explained, to some extent, by
a failure on the part of courts and legal academics to reflect on the meaning of
privacy. Through comparative, critical and historical analysis, this book seeks to
refine our understanding of privacy by considering our shared experience of it. To
this end, the book draws on the work of Norbert Elias and Karl Popper among
others and compares the English law of privacy with the highly elaborate German
law. In doing so, the book reaches the conclusion that an unfortunate consequence
of the way English privacy law has developed is that it gives the impression that
justice is only for the rich and famous. If English courts are to ensure equalitarian
justice, the book argues that they must reflect on the value of privacy and explore
the bounds of legal possibility.