The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that journalists can be prevented from publishing publicly available information in cases where a person’s right to privacy is violated, Out-Law.com reports. In the case of Satakunnan Markkinapörssi and Satamedia v. the Republic of Finland, the ECHR decided that the Finnish magazine could be prevented from publishing publicly available tax data in order to protect the privacy rights of individuals. Finland’s data protection ombudsman advised the companies to stop publishing such data, but the companies felt it violated their freedom of expression. Pinsent Masons’ Ian Birdsey said, “The case highlights the difficulties that the courts often face when seeking to balance competing rights,” adding, “It will be interesting to see how the courts will assess the ‘public interest value’ on a case-by-case basis.”
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