The law recognises that everyone has a right to a private life, including company directors and employees.
Yet a growing obsession with “celebrity” culture and an insatiable appetite for details of an individual’s private and family life have spread to business and finance journalism. A human interest angle can add spice to a business story, potentially pushing every CEO or senior executive into the eye of a media storm.
Business leaders can become celebrities: this creates a reputation risk for all businesses and particularly those whose brand or image is closely linked to that of individuals on their board.
Disregarding privacy law, the press have shown a particular tendency not only to publish details of an individual’s remuneration, which can be highly intrusive, but to information about their family, homes and personal interests.
However, much of the personal information that the media might want to publish is private and confidential. This can include address details, financial information including pay and bonuses, health and identity details, photographs, and information about their sex life and personal relationships.
Aside from being a personal invasion, this can damage a business by unsettling key stakeholders and destabilising investor confidence.
We can use legal tools to protect against these reputational risks. Our expertise and lines of communication with the media often enable us to make a formal approach that will prevent such private information from being published. Failing that, we can seek to prevent the publication at very short notice.