Does snail mail have any special exemptions from Privacy laws?

DeVore

Can I pose a hypothetical question?

Suppose Person A sends Person B a snail mail with a picture of a bullet and on it writes "I saw this and thought of you". Can person B show it to a lawyer without opening themselves up to accusations of publishing private communication?

Additional questions:

1. Would that be different if it was an EMail? Or a PM?

2. Do such protections about publishing private communications exist in the first place or is it a fabrication of the public who WISH it did or who misunderstand the law?


I'm just curious....

DeV.

FreudianSlippers

There is breach of confidence in tort, but you would have to establish that there existed a duty of confidentiality and that the correspondence in question was of a confidential nature.

It's in the Privacy Bill 2006 (which is probably and correctly never going to become an Act)

3.—(1) For the purposes of this section, the privacy to which an
individual is entitled is that which is reasonable in all the circumstances
having regard to the rights of others and to the requirements 30
of public order, public morality and the common good.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) and subject
to sections 5 and 6, it shall be a violation of the privacy of an
individual for a person—
[...]
(d) to disclose letters, diaries, medical records or other documents
concerning the individual or information obtained therefrom [...]

The phrases "reasonable in all the circumstances" and "having regard to the rights of others and to the requirements of public order, public morality and the common good." are important here.

Not to mention since you're just showing them to your lawyer (in contemplation of legal action?) you're not really publishing the letter.

dermot_sheehan

There is no duty of confidence with a communication that is a threat. In any case this appears not to be a case where disclosure of the communication would involve the tort of breach of confidence as many of the elements are missing.

Person B has not intercepted the postal packet during transmission and divulged it's contents.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1983/en/act/pub/0024/sec0084.html#zza24y1983s84

Perfectly legal for Person B to show the details to anyone he wants.

Regarding telecommunications:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1983/en/act/pub/0024/sec0098.html#zza24y1983s98

makes it a criminal offence to intercept a telecommunications message.


Disclosure of such a communication could also involve committing the tort of breach of confidence

DeVore wrote: »

Can I pose a hypothetical question?

Suppose Person A sends Person B a snail mail with a picture of a bullet and on it writes "I saw this and thought of you". Can person B show it to a lawyer without opening themselves up to accusations of publishing private communication?

Additional questions:

1. Would that be different if it was an EMail? Or a PM?

2. Do such protections about publishing private communications exist in the first place or is it a fabrication of the public who WISH it did or who misunderstand the law?


I'm just curious....

DeV.

DeVore

DeVore wrote: »

Can I pose a hypothetical question?

Suppose Person A sends Person B a snail mail with a picture of a bullet and on it writes "I saw this and thought of you". Can person B show it to a lawyer without opening themselves up to accusations of publishing private communication?

Additional questions:

1. Would that be different if it was an EMail? Or a PM?

2. Do such protections about publishing private communications exist in the first place or is it a fabrication of the public who WISH it did or who misunderstand the law?


I'm just curious....

DeV.

This is a pretty complicated question Dev.

Your initial scenario is really dependent on the context of the message. I assume, given the mention of a lawyer, that the recipient would be in fear of the senders intentions. In that case he should not have shown it to a lawyer but rather to the Gardaí who could proceed under the Harassment provisions in the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

Privacy, as a right, is not absolute and the right to privacy will not protect a criminal act.

I don't really know enough about the area to comment on whether PM or email would alter the result, I sincerely doubt it though.


As for publishing private communications.

Again it depends on the nature of the communication. The communication must have been intended to be private or, alternatively, be given in such a scenario that a strict confidence would naturally be presumed to exist. (Doctor-patient for example) If someone sent me a PM or an email saying "I am going to the cinema later, you want to come?" you are not precluded from telling anyone that you were invited. The information has no confidential nature to it.

TJM

As you mention "publishing" a private letter it might be worth noting that copyright in correspondence vests in the author - not the recipient. This crops up from time to time and may be the cause of some of the confusion you mention.

Suppose A writes on a regular basis to B. A becomes famous. B would like to profit from the correspondence. B can auction off the letters (subject to the possible privacy constraints mentioned above) but cannot reprint the contents which remain in the ownership of A.

DeVore

Does any of this change when its an Email?

DeV.

FreudianSlippers

DeVore wrote: »

Does any of this change when its an Email?

DeV.

Email is now generally considered to fall under the same rules as regular post except the postal rule has a slight variation. Also there are some exceptions to retention of private data under Directive 95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC

Tom Young

I used to think that too .... it's far from clear.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963187&highlight=entores

FreudianSlippers

Tom Young wrote: »

I used to think that too .... it's far from clear.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963187&highlight=entores

Interesting. Thanks