Surreptitious takings of confidential information

There has been considerable litigation concerning the law of confidence in recent years. This includes claims brought by private individuals to restrain the disclosure of medical information and personal secrets, actions by employers against employees to restrain unauthorised use of trade secrets and actions by the government in respect of state secrets. Unfortunately, although the existence of a jurisdiction to restrain breaches of confidence has long been established, there still remains some uncertainty as to the conceptual basis of the action. The conceptual uncertainty has not, however, prevented the courts from recognising the existence of the jurisdiction and establishing the basic criterion of the action.