← All research pathsConfidentiality
Begin with trust, confidence, and the protection of private conversation. These passages supply distinct historical starting points; the collection does not yet contain a dedicated series of breach-of-confidence decisions.
Transcription page 411 · PDF page 415
Trust and confidence in chancery
Tucker describes equitable relief for breaches of trust and confidence while discussing Virginia chancery and its English antecedents. Follow the authorities in the notes to investigate the underlying doctrines. This is a general account of equity, not a decision about disclosure of confidential information. The available copy is a modern transcription with its own pagination.
St. George Tucker, Notes of Reference to the Constitution and Laws of the Federal Government of the United States; and of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Appended to Blackstone’s Commentaries 411 (LONANG Inst. electronic ed. 2013) (1803).
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Original source record ↗Printed page 168 · PDF page 180
Listening at walls and windows
Blackstone classifies eavesdroppers as a common nuisance. His formulation includes listening to discourse and then framing slanderous and mischievous tales. Read those elements together; this passage does not state a freestanding civil action for every act of listening.
4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 168 (Oxford, William Strahan, Thomas Cadell, & Daniel Prince 7th ed. 1775).
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Original source record ↗Printed page 223 · PDF page 235
The protected home
In his discussion of burglary, Blackstone connects the protection of the house with rules concerning eavesdroppers and other nuisances. This is a useful bridge between conversation and place, within a chapter on criminal wrongs.
4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 223 (Oxford, William Strahan, Thomas Cadell, & Daniel Prince 7th ed. 1775).
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