civil-law
Public disclosure of private conversation
<p>If I am party to a private conversation with a public figure, and that person either records (legally) the audio, a transcript, or if communication occurs via text, does that person have a legal right to publish the conversation if I explicitly state that I do not want it to be shared? </p>

<h2>It depends</h2>

<p>In general, you have complete free reign to publish what you like notwithstanding the wishes of the other person.</p>

<p>Exceptions are:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>you are in a fiduciary relationship e.g. lawyer-client, doctor-patient, banker-client etc. although such obligations are ‘one-way’ e.g. the lawyer can’t but the client can.</p></li>
<li><p>you are bound by a non-disclosure agreement</p></li>
<li><p>it’s confidential information given in confidence where you have a duty of confidence. Asking someone to keep it secret only creates the second of these, the first is a function of the information the third is a function of the relationship.</p></li>
<li><p>disclosure would be an offence e.g. national security, operational law enforcement, contempt etc.</p></li>
<li><p>the person had a “reasonable expectation of privacy in all the circumstances” although this generally applies to third parties who ‘overhear’ the conversation.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>When people like politicians talk “off the record” to people like journalists silence is provided by professional ethics and risk of reputation rather than legal sanctions.</p>
