Australian Law Reform Commission Report Into Serious Invasions of Privacy

The Australian Law Reform Commission released a report earlier this week on Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era .

The report proposes a new tort remedy for invasions of privacy that are serious, committed intentionally or recklessly and that cannot be justified as being in the public interest — for example, posting sexually explicit photos of someone on the Web without their permission, a topic much in the news recently because of the massive leak of nude photos of some of Hollywood’s biggest female celebrities.

The document also recommends a range of defences to protect free speech: these would include lawful authority, necessity (to protect life, for example), consent, absolute privilege (such as reporting court or parliamentary proceedings), the publication of public documents, etc.