Invasion of privacy comes in many forms. A common example is the intrusion of your geographical space by a neighbour when you have a right to be left alone. It may be caused by blaring music or by trespass on your property. You may also suffer an invasion of privacy when there is publicity about you that places you in a false light, or public disclosure of embarrassing, private facts that are true. If you are a sports hero, there may be a wrongful appropriation of your name or likeness.
The courts traditionally have protected privacy issues through various common law principles such as nuisance, trespass, harassment, defamation, injurious falsehood, deceit, and passing off. But different social realities are emerging. With advancements in technology, such as cell phones taking photographs, personal data of an individual can now be collected, accessed, and disseminated more easily than ever before. And there is a greater public appetite for this information. Some legislation is in place to balance information privacy with the need to collect, use, and disclose personal information in our era of information technology. There are now rules governing the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by organizations.
Recently, one Superior Court Judge in Ontario took the common law principles a step further. The Superior Court, for the first time, recognized invasion of privacy as a legal principle in its own right. If the case is accepted by other courts at the same level or by the Court of Appeal, there will no longer be a need for a litigant to resort to the many older, traditional principles to protect privacy issues. There will be only one “tort,” the invasion of privacy.