Parental views about the importance of family privacy and its protection in English law

The question ‘should the family be afforded privacy?’ has been the subject of extensive academic debate. No-one has ever asked parents their views. This thesis seeks to address this issue, using semi-structured interviews to explore whether parents believe the family should be afforded privacy. Recognising that some parents are now turning to the courts and to regulators to challenge third party intrusion in family life, that they seem to believe the law has a role to play in protecting their family’s privacy, this thesis also explores whether parents believe English law affords effective protection to family privacy.

Whilst much has been written about family privacy, few scholars have attempted to define family privacy. This thesis accordingly commences with a detailed analysis of the literature, proposing a definition which recognises family privacy may play an important role in protecting the family from the intrusion of state and society. It continues to discuss the arguments for and against family privacy and explains why, with parents increasingly reported to be sharing significant amounts of family information online, the relevance of family privacy to the twenty-first century family is called into question.

This thesis ultimately finds that many parents believe the family should be afforded its own privacy, should be free from state and societal intrusion and should be allowed to control how family information is used. A review of relevant legislation and case law reveals, however, that whilst English law reflects family privacy ideology, it does not always afford family privacy effective protection. Parents themselves report knowing little of the law. Their understanding of the law is often at odds with reality. Not knowing how the law protects family privacy or mistrusting the law to provide the desired protection, many parents consider it their responsibility to protect their family’s privacy.