Invasion of privacy
- A person's privacy is a basic right enshrined in the provision of Section 7 of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty:
"Every person is entitled to privacy and the privacy of his life. One does not enter a person's private domain without his consent."
- There is no dispute that the right to privacy is one of the most important human rights in that it establishes, in a democratic regime, "the dignity and liberty to which a person is entitled as a human being, as a value in itself" (Criminal Appeal 6255/03 Anonymous v. State of Israel, IsrSC 58(3) 168, 218 (2004)); see also Aharon Barak, Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation - Volume 3 - Constitutional Rights 1542-1544 and the References therein (from a series of commentaries on the Basic Laws, Yitzhak Zamir ed., 2023) (hereinafter: "Barak - Constitutional Rights")).
- The words of the Honorable Justice Sohlberg, Other Municipality Applications 8954/11 Anonymous v. Anonymous, IsrSC 66(3) 691, 740 (2014):
"The democratic regime also demands the existence of the right to privacy. The existence of a private living space that is not under the watchful eye of the state is necessary for the existence of a pluralistic society that gives free rein to the variety of voices within it... This position was previously recognized by this court, which ruled that the right to privacy is 'one of the freedoms that shape the character of the regime in Israel as a democratic regime'... To be precise: the right to privacy does not only serve the person as a person. It has a broad social significance, beyond the right of the individual. Its virtue is great and important for the very existence of human society."
- In private law, too, the right to privacy will be devoted to legislation. The main one is the Protection of Privacy Law, along with other pieces of legislation, such as the Wiretapping Law, 5739-1979, the Patient's Rights Law, 5756-1996, and more (for an overview, see, Barak, Constitutional Rights, at pp. 1531-1534; Michael Birnhack, Constitutional Privacy, 22-23 (2023).
- The plaintiff bases the alleged violation of her privacy on the Protection of Privacy Law. Section 1 of the Protection of Privacy Law states that "a person shall not violate the privacy of another without his consent." Section 2 of the Protection of Privacy Law determines what constitutes a violation of privacy and presents alternatives.
- The provisions of Sections 2(4) and 2(6) of the Protection of Privacy Law state as follows:
"An invasion of privacy is one of the following: