Lee & Phang on Civil Liability for Misuse of Private Information

Jack Tsen-Ta Lee and Phang Hsiao Chung (Attorney-General’s Chambers, Singapore) have posted “Report on Civil Liability for Misuse of Private Information” (Simon Constantine (ed), Singapore: Law Reform Committee, Singapore Academy of Law, 2020) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This report issued by the Law Reform Committee of the Singapore Academy of Law considers whether the existing legal protections from the disclosure and serious misuse of private information in Singapore are sufficient and effective.

At present, while various protections for victims of such misuse and related breaches of privacy exist, these derive from an assortment of different statutory and common law causes of action (for example, suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress, private nuisance and/or breach of confidence, or bringing claims under the Personal Data Protection Act or Protection from Harassment Act). This patchwork of laws – several of which were designed primarily to address matters other than misuse of private information – not only risks making the law more difficult for victims to navigate, it also risks some instances of serious misuse of private information not being effectively provided for and those affected finding themselves with no real recourse or remedy.

Given these shortcomings, it is submitted that a statutory tort of misuse of private information should be introduced.

(The draft bill annexed to the report was prepared by Phang Hsiao Chung, Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, in his capacity as a member of the Law Reform Committee.)

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