Court upholds decision to strike out claim for misuse of private information, breach of confidence and data protection (Harlow Higinbotham v Teekhungam and another)

Article summary

Information Law analysis: The court struck out this rather unusual claim for misuse of private information, breach of confidence and Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) on the grounds of abuse of process. The court also found that the claimant had no arguable reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of the information at issue, nor was the information confidential, hence it would have granted summary judgment to the defendants on those grounds too. This case highlights the importance of ensuring that any privacy claim is advanced for legitimate reasons and that proceedings must be able to achieve a tangible benefit for the claimant. It also highlights the need to give careful consideration as to whether any derogations from open justice are necessary or appropriate, particularly where they seek to protect only one of the parties. Written by Chloe Strong, barrister at 5RB, who acted as counsel for...