© 2007 The Author. Journal Compilation © 2007 The Society of Legal Scholars. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Legal Studies, Vol. 27 No. 3, September 2007, pp. 430–464 DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-121X.2007.00058.x Monetary remedies for breach of confidence in privacy cases Dr Normann Witzleb University of Western Australia In Campbell v MGN Ltd, the House of Lords endorsed an expansive interpretation of the breach of confidence action to protect privacy interests. The scope and content of this transformed cause of action have already been subject to considerable judicial consider- ation and academic discussion. This paper focuses on the remedial consequences of privacy breaches. It undertakes an analysis of the principles which govern awards for pecuniary and non-pecuniary loss, the availability of gain-based relief, in particular an account of profits, and exemplary damages. Even in its traditional scope, the monetary remedies for breach of confidence raise complex issues, mainly resulting from the fact that this doctrine draws on multiple juris- dictional sources such as equity, contract and property law. The difficulties of determining the appropriate remedial principles are now compounded by the fact that English law also aims to integrate its obligation to protect the right to privacy under Art 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 into the conceptual framework of the breach of confidence action. The analysis provided in this paper supports the contention that not only the scope of the cause of action but also important remedial issues are likely to remain in doubt until the wrong of ‘misuse of private information’ is freed from the constraints of the traditional action for breach of confidence. A separate tort would be able to deal more coherently and comprehensively with all wrongs commonly regarded as privacy breaches. INTRODUCTION (a) The aim of this article Since the Human Rights Act 1998 has come into force, the law on privacy in the UK has developed dramatically. After some initial hesitation about how the common law could most appropriately deal with intrusions into a person’s private life, the courts decided to mould the breach of confidence doctrine into the principal vehicle of privacy protection. In Campbell v MGN Ltd, 1 the House of Lords approved of incre- mentally extending this existing cause of action to protect privacy interests. Opponents of this approach contend that a specific privacy tort would be a preferable way of developing the law in conformity with the Human Rights Act 1. [2004] UKHL 22, [2004] 2 AC 457.