Litigation Report — The Tort of Snooping: Intrusion upon Seclusion

In Jones v. Tsige, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed the existence of a new common law right of action for breach of privacy called “intrusion upon seclusion. The tort will only arise upon deliberate and significant invasions of privacy, and non-pecuniary damages are capped at $20,000. The Court gave examples of areas over which an individual might have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such that a breach of that privacy could lead to a claim in this tort, including: one’s financial and health records, sexual practices and orientation, employment, diary or private correspondence, electronic databases that record the books we borrow or buy, the movies we rent or download, where we shop, where we travel and communication by cell-phone, e-mail or text message.

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