Privacy law protects a person's private life from unjustified intrusion, exposure and misuse of personal information. A broadcaster meets this law daily: a microphone at a gate, a camera in a compound, a caller on a phone-in. Defamation, taught in Media Law I, protects reputation; privacy protects something different, so a true statement can still invade it.
Privacy is a person's claim to control who enters their personal space, who learns the details of their private affairs, and what is done with their image, voice and information. Privacy law is the set of rules (the Constitution, statutes, court decisions and professional codes) that decide when intrusion or disclosure is unlawful and what remedy follows.
The law protects privacy for three reasons that matter in a newsroom:
A broadcaster draws on several sources, since no single statute covers privacy.
| Source | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Constitution of Kenya 2010, Article 31 | The right to privacy: no unjustified search of person, home or property, seizure of possessions, revealing of family or private affairs, or infringement of communications |
| Constitution, Articles 22, 23 and 24 | Any person may go to court to enforce a right, and the High Court may grant an injunction or compensation; rights may be limited only by law, reasonably and justifiably |
| Data Protection Act, 2019 | Rules for handling personal data, rights for data subjects, and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner as regulator |
| Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018 | Offences such as unauthorised access, cyber harassment and sharing intimate images without consent; the Act was amended in 2025 and parts of the amendments were challenged in the High Court, so check the current text |
| Children Act, 2022 | Protects a child's privacy and limits identifying children in some proceedings |
| Common law | Breach of confidence; English decisions are persuasive, not binding |
| Media Council Act, 2013 and Code of Conduct for Media Practice, 2025 | Professional standards and a Media Council of Kenya complaints process |
| Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 17 | Protect against arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence |
The Constitution guarantees freedom of expression (Article 33) and freedom of the media (Article 34), and Article 35 gives citizens a right of access to information. Article 33 also says that a person using the freedom must respect the rights and reputation of others, and privacy is one of those rights, so a court weighs the two. The general right to freedom of expression is taught in Media Law I.
The deciding idea is public interest: the community has a real stake in knowing the information, for example because it exposes wrongdoing or protects public safety. It does not mean that the public finds the story interesting.
Courts and press regulators ask whether the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, judged from factors such as these:
A person whose privacy has been invaded has several routes, which can run side by side.
Example: during a call-in show, a woman describes an abusive marriage and names her husband and the estate where they live. The producer wants to rebroadcast the clip in the evening news.
The newsroom asks first whether the caller had a reasonable expectation of privacy. She consented to the live show, but not necessarily to a repeat with her husband's name in a news item. The subject is family and private affairs, and naming the estate could identify her to her husband and endanger her. Domestic violence is a public-interest issue, but naming one household is not. The sensible decision is a version without names, the estate or her voice unless she agrees, with a helpline reference added. The producer records the decision in the programme log.
Distinguish privacy from defamation and explain why a true statement can still invade a person's privacy. (6 marks)
Define privacy and privacy law, and explain three reasons why the law protects privacy that matter in a newsroom. (10 marks)
Identify five sources of privacy law in Kenya and state what each provides. (10 marks)
Explain how the freedom of expression in Article 33 of the Constitution relates to privacy, and state what public interest means in this context. (6 marks)
A producer at a regional television station wants to film a man in his own compound and a woman speaking at a public rally. Using any four factors, explain how the expectation of privacy differs in the two cases. (8 marks)
Describe the four routes open to a person whose privacy has been invaded by a broadcast. (8 marks)
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Create a free accountThis chapter introduced the law that protects a person's private life from intrusion and disclosure by a broadcaster. Privacy rests on Article 31 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and on the Data Protection Act, 2019, the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, the Children Act, 2022, the common law of breach of confidence and the Code of Conduct for Media Practice, 2025. A court weighs privacy against freedom of expression using public interest and the reasonable expectation of privacy, judged from the place, the nature of the information, the status of the person, consent, the purpose and manner of gathering, and the effect on the person. A person whose privacy has been invaded may go to the High Court, the Data Protection Commissioner, the Media Council of Kenya or the police. Information is confidential when it has the quality of confidence, was given under an obligation and is used without authority to the giver's harm. The defences are public interest, information already public, consent, legal compulsion and limited disclosure. The chapter ended with the areas of privacy that private law protects: the person and body, the home and property, communications, personal data, family life and health, children and public figures.
Which Article of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 protects the right to privacy? (1 mark)
a) Article 28
b) Article 31
c) Article 33
d) Article 53
True or False: a statement that is true can never invade a person's privacy. Give a reason. (2 marks)