Privacy rights in employment
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis undertakes to research the development of domestic legal protection for privacy rights within employment. Unusually for a current work, it does this by returning to the genesis of the protections. The work challenges pervasive arguments that the notion of confidence did not protect privacy and exceptionally argues that the earliest incarnation of the notion of confidence was well equipped to protect private and personal information against disclosure. The thesis puts forward the novel view that the problems that have arisen in providing domestic protection for such information, in the absence of a right to privacy, are the result of an unfortunate narrowing of the original notion. This position is underpinned by the contention that a number of cases misinterpreted the nature of the original tort and did not fully recognise the requirement to provide protection against the acquisition of personal information. The historical analysis contributes to current knowledge by providing an alternative interpretation of the historical legal framework. This analysis provides an unorthodox assessment of the opportunities provided to the courts by the notion of confidence, to enhance both the theory and practical impact of the protection of privacy rights within employment Furthermore the thesis evaluates a broad range of case law from the European Court of Human Rights. These include general privacy cases, those involving wrongdoers as well as general employment cases. These cases are used to identify any consistent themes or conflicts in the application of the right to privacy. The evaluation produces a highly developed analysis and uncovers the latent significance of employment policies in both the protection of and the intrusion into, an employee's privacy. Most notably and distinctively the thesis identifies the important role that a well-crafted policy can have in augmenting an insubstantial legislative framework, provided that some legal basis provides the foun…
abstract: This thesis undertakes to research the development of domestic legal protection for privacy rights within employment. Unusually for a current work, it does this by returning to the genesis of the protections. The work challenges pervasive arguments that the notion of confidence did not protect privacy and exceptionally argues that the earliest incarnation of the notion of confidence was well equipped to protect private and personal information against disclosure. The thesis puts forward the novel view that the problems that have arisen in providing domestic protection for such information, in the absence of a right to privacy, are the result of an unfortunate narrowing of the original notion. This position is underpinned by the contention that a number of cases misinterpreted the nature of the original tort and did not fully recognise the requirement to provide protection against the acquisition of personal information. The historical analysis contributes to current knowledge by providing an alternative interpretation of the historical legal framework. This analysis provides an unorthodox assessment of the opportunities provided to the courts by the notion of confidence, to enhance both the theory and practical impact of the protection of privacy rights within employment Furthermore the thesis evaluates a broad range of case law from the European Court of Human Rights. These include general privacy cases, those involving wrongdoers as well as general employment cases. These cases are used to identify any consistent themes or conflicts in the application of the right to privacy. The evaluation produces a highly developed analysis and uncovers the latent significance of employment policies in both the protection of and the intrusion into, an employee's privacy. Most notably and distinctively the thesis identifies the important role that a well-crafted policy can have in augmenting an insubstantial legislative framework, provided that some legal basis provides the foun…
author: Ball, Yvonne
language: en
keywords: M290 - Law by topic not elsewhere classified
date published: 2008-09
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:36:20Z
provider: University of Central Lancashire
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Central Lancashire