ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the concept of physical privacy and its legal protection, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which physical privacy is relevant in the contemporary media law landscape. Physical privacy, it is contended, is best understood as an individual’s interest in controlling the circumstances in which their body is sensed, which can be interfered with when someone is watched, listened to or otherwise sensed without their authorisation. In the media context, this interest is potentially implicated by a broad range of activities including photography, phone-hacking and door-stepping. While some jurisdictions have developed a dedicated ‘intrusion upon seclusion’ tort which overlaps significantly with physical privacy, in England and Wales the protection of the interest is more piecemeal and complex. Under English law, a range of different actions protect physical privacy in certain circumstances, including the tort of misuse of private information, though arguably none comprehensively.
Hariharan, Jeevan, Physical Privacy and The Media (November 1, 2025), Faculty of Laws University College London Law Research Paper No 17/2025; in Normann Witzleb, Megan Richardson and Damian Clifford (eds), Research Handbook on Privacy and Confidentiality in Media Law (Edward Elgar, 2026 forthcoming).
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