Sex, bugs & video tapes: the private lives of public figures deserve more protection from the press

Would you like the details of your sex life, private conversations, and hidden passions splashed across the pages of a British tabloid or published online? Could you do anything to stop it? In Britain, unlike in the USA or France, there is no right to privacy, only a much weaker "right to confidence". And though Britain has notoriously tight libel laws – making it the favoured destination for libel tourists – they only work retrospectively, after publication, by which time your reputation has been shattered. That at any rate is the view of former FIA president Max Mosley – whose proclivities were exposed by the News of the World. In 2010 he applied to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for a change in the law that would make it compulsory to inform people before publishing private information about them. Did he have a good case? Or was he making an outrageous assault on press freedom? Hear him and Rachel Atkins take on Tom Bower and Ken MacDonald QC in our debate from 2010.

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