'Night Jack' – the pseudonym used by a serving detective constable for writing his blog – has lost his case in which he sought to restrain The Times newspaper from revealing his identity. Night Jack had written about a number of social and political issues relating to the police and justice. The Times had not been told his identity in breach of confidence, but had deduced it.
The High Court rejected his application on the basis that there was no breach of any duty of confidentiality in this case, and it did not qualify as information in respect of which the author had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Crucially, the judge ruled that blogging was essentially a public, rather than private, activity. Bloggers often took steps to disguise their authorship, but it was a step too far to say that those people could legitimately expect others to be prohibited at law from deducing their identity.
In any event, the High Court added that even if the author had a right of confidentiality, it was outweighed in this case by a contrary public interest in revealing his identity. The author's opinions were strong and controversial. Communicating details of police operations meant that the author risked disciplinary action. Wrong-doing by a public servant was something which the press could legitimately draw to people's attentions. In addition, since his comments were very political and critical, the public should have the right to receive information about the author so that they could assess the weight and authority to be attached to them. It was not the court's remit to protect police officers who were acting in breach of police regulations from coming to the attention of their superiors.
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