Confidential Information in UK Law
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Attorney General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd and Others (No. 2)
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I start with the broad general principle (which I do not intend in any way to be definitive) that a duty of confidence arises when confidential information comes to the knowledge of a person (the confidant) in circumstances where he has notice, or is held to have agreed, that the information is confidential, with the effect that it would be just in all the circumstances that he should be precluded from disclosing the information to others.
But it is well settled that a duty of confidence may arise in equity independently of such cases; and I have expressed the circumstances in which the duty arises in broad terms, not merely to embrace those cases where a third party receives information from a person who is under a duty of confidence in respect of it, knowing that it has been disclosed by that person to him in breach of his duty of confidence, but also to include certain situations, beloved of law teachers - where an obviously confidential document is wafted by an electric fan out of a window into a crowded street, or when an obviously confidential document, such as a private diary, is dropped in a public place, and is then picked up by a passer-by.
It is that the principle of confidentiality only applies to information to the extent that it is confidential. In particular, once it has entered what is usually called the public domain (which means no more than that the information in question is so generally accessible that, in all the circumstances, it cannot be regarded as confidential) then, as a general rule, the principle of confidentiality can have no application to it.
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Michael Douglas (1st Respondent) Catherine Zeta-Jones (2nd Respondent) Nothern & Shell Plc (3rd Respondent) v Hello Ltd (1st Appellant) Hola S.A. (2nd Appellant) Eduardo Sanchez Junco (3rd Appellant)
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Insofar as a photograph does more than convey information and intrudes on privacy by enabling the viewer to focus on intimate personal detail, there will be a fresh intrusion of privacy when each additional viewer sees the photograph and even when one who has seen a previous publication of the photograph, is confronted by a fresh publication of it.
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Campbell v MGN Ltd
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Now the law imposes a 'duty of confidence' whenever a person receives information he knows or ought to know is fairly and reasonably to be regarded as confidential. The continuing use of the phrase 'duty of confidence' and the description of the information as 'confidential' is not altogether comfortable. Information about an individual's private life would not, in ordinary usage, be called 'confidential'. The essence of the tort is better encapsulated now as misuse of private information.
Accordingly, in deciding what was the ambit of an individual's 'private life' in particular circumstances courts need to be on guard against using as a touchstone a test which brings into account considerations which should more properly be considered at the later stage of proportionality. Essentially the touchstone of private life is whether in respect of the disclosed facts the person in question had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
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Faccenda Chicken Ltd v Fowler
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First there is information which, because of its trivial character or its easy accessibility from public sources of information, cannot be regarded by reasonable persons or by the law as confidential at all. ' The servant is at liberty to impart it during his service or afterwards to anyone he pleases, even his master's competitor.
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Disclosure of Confidential Information) Regulations 2001
- The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (Disclosure of Confidential Information) Regulations 2014
- The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (Disclosure of Confidential Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
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Insurance Act 2015
... ... (b) failing that, disclosure which gives the insurer sufficient information to put a prudent insurer on notice that it needs to make further enquiries ... not by virtue of subsection (2) (b) or (3) (b) taken to know confidential information known to an individual if—(a) the individual is, or is an ... ...
- Negotiating Damages after One Step: Employment Team Move and Misuse of Confidential Information Cases
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Criminal infiltration of financial institutions: a penetration test case study
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the findings of a security research project commissioned by a financial institution to identify security breaches that could facilitate illicit acce...... ... breaches that could facilitate illicit accessto confidential information.Design/methodology/approach – Using penetration and social engineering ... ...
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Inter-agency evidence sharing in competition law enforcement
While transnational antitrust enforcement is becoming only more common, the access to foreign-based evidence remains a considerable practical challenge. This article appraises considerations and co...... ... evaluates the existing mechanisms allowingfor inter-agency confidential information/evidence sharing in competition law enforcement.The article ... ...
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What is said in European Works Councils stays there. Confidentiality and how to cope with it
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study how employee representatives in European Works Councils (EWCs) treat confidential information and how such strategies might improve the EWC functionin...... ... representatives in European Works Councils(EWCs) treat confidential information and how such strategies might improve the EWC ... ...
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Infused oils, investment managers and one combining factor: confidential information
Cases involving confidential information have been keeping the High Court busy over the last few months. In this article, we look at two such recent cases: Kerry Ingredients (UK) Ltd v. Bakkavor Gr...
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Tough stance on confidential information: search and destroy ordered
The court ordered, on an interim application, that the claimants’ confidential information be searched for and destroyed on the defendants’ computers. In an area of law where there was previously n...
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Dismissal for Sharing Confidential Information Was Unfair
In Stimpson v Citibank N.A. ET/3200437/15, Mr Stimpson brought claims for unfair and wrongful dismissal after being dismissed without notice by Citibank N.A. (Citi) for an alleged breach of Citi’s ...
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FCA publishes inside and confidential information flow review
FCA has published a Thematic Review on its review of inside and confidential information. Its review covered a sample of investment banking firms to assess how they manage the confidential and insi...
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Confidential information
Forms relating to adoption, including those to request adoption, placement and parental orders.
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Chapter NMWM16420
... ... be alert to individuals or organisations attempting to gain confidential information by deception. Read the ‘Bogus Caller’ guidance in ... ...
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Chapter IDG30230
... ... Information about a customer should never be provided to a third party unless you are ... be alert to individuals or organisations attempting to gain confidential information by deception. Read the ‘Bogus Caller’ guidance on the ... ...
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Chapter IDG70100
... ... their duty of confidentiality and will not disclose any information they receive in the execution of duties in relation to HMRC, except for ... If a contractor makes any unauthorised disclosure of confidential information they will be subject to the department’s criminal sanction ... ...