What is breach of confidence?
Breach of confidence is a common law rule preventing disclosure of confidential information. Does the law prevent all confidential information being published? No – the law recognises that in some cases the public interest in exposing the information may outweigh the obligation to preserve the confidence. What counts as the public interest? The law has long held that exposing iniquity or serious wrongdoing is in the public interest. Other information may be in the public interest where it contributes to “a debate of general interest”. Although not all facts that are interesting to the public are in the public interest, judges have emphasised that the press has a watchdog role imparting information and ideas on matters of public interest. How do the courts balance the issues? As well as balancing rights to privacy and freedom of expression generally, where interim injunctions are involved the courts also have to weigh up the damage done to the claimant if the information were disclosed,
