Ofcom says no privacy rights for member of public filmed drunk

Ofcom has dismissed a complaint by a member of the public, Mr Gareth Nixon, for unwarranted infringement of privacy in relation to an ITV documentary about binge-drinking in the UK which featured shots of Mr Nixon in a drunken state.

 

Ofcom found that neither the filming, which took place openly in a public street, nor the broadcast of footage of Mr Nixon, infringed his privacy, and it therefore did not have to consider whether an infringement of Mr Nixon's privacy rights was warranted.

 

Ofcom's decision is somewhat at odds with recent case law in the area of information privacy, in which the English and European courts have found that both private and public individuals have rights relating to their privacy in situations bearing some similarities with Mr Nixon's. Mr Nixon might have had more success if he had chosen a different forum for his complaint.