The right of privacy of pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 patients

The right to privacy is considered as one of the basic and most essential human rights enshrined and stipulated in the Iraqi constitution of 2005, in conformity with the first section of the article (17), which provides that (Every individual shall have the right to personal privacy so long as it does not contradict the rights of others and public morals). The constitution recognizes this right to each individual, and guarantees its legal protection from any trespass, assault, encroachment.Therefore we can say that this right is established legally on two basic elements: the element of secrecy, and the element of seclusion. Generally speaking, any individual may enjoy the right to personal privacy, in all the affairs pertaining to his private life, including his or her private correspondences, communication, information, residence, family life and solitude. But we shall be focused in this brief article on the right of personal privacy of any pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 patient towards all the health institutions to keep secret his or her mane, as well as all the medical information concerning his or her infectious disease. According to this constitutional right, these pieces of information are prohibited from being disclosed publicly. It is worth-noting that the disclosure of this type of medical information may be harmful, if not destroying the stability of the private life of the coronavirus patient, after recovering from this infectious disease. The abuse of the use of the secret medical information against the coronavirus patient may result in many bad consequences, for example, firing the target individual from his or her job, rescission of the contract of employment, if he or she is an employee. As well as the failure of all the civil and commercial transactions to be concluded by the target individual, as a result of the notoriety and bad propaganda directed to him or her, owing to the suffering from pandemic coronavirus COVID-19, as an ex-patient. But the most important part of our article is the forms of the invasion of the right of personal privacy of the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 patient, particularly the abuse of the secret medical information concerning his or her name and health condition. The legal systems in general have included the following forms:

1-The appropriation of the name, linkness or the image of the ex-patient: any type of the appropriation of the name, linkness or the image of the coronavirus COVID-19 ex-patient is considered as an injurious act requiring the indemnification of the victim (ex-patient) in accordance with the article (204) of the Iraqi civil law No.40 of 1951. Which provides that (Every assault which causes other than the injuries mentioned in the preceding articles entails the payment of compensation). Applying this article on the appropriation of the name, linkness or the image of the coronavirus COVID-19 ex-patient, we can say that this act represents an assault or trespass, which is considered as the material element of the fault according to the afore-mentioned article (204). This type of appropriation may be used in the purpose of the medical propaganda for the invention of a new medication to treat the patients of the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19. This appropriation may also be used for the benefit of some pharmaceutical companies, specialized in manufacturing medications. The appropriation may extend to the unauthorized use of photographs of the ex-patient.

2-The public disclosure of private facts: this form of the assault or trespass can also represent the abuse of the secret medical information of the ex-patient of coronavirus by disclosing it publicly, either via social media, mass media or other websites. This type of assault is considered as a highly offensive one towards the coronavirus COVID-19 ex-patient, because it may be harmful to his or her sociability.

3-The unreasonable intrusion on the private affairs of the ex-patient: the third form of the abuse of the secret medical information of coronavirus COVID-19 ex-patient, is the unreasonable intrusion on his or her private affairs. This form of the assault is also highly offensive, because it causes the ex-patient a great deal of the emotional distress and harm. If the ex-patient suffers from the damage arising from these forms of abuse of the secret medical information concerning the infection of coronavirus, he or she can claim damages or compensation according the rules of the negligent liability provided for in the Iraqi civil law No.40 of 1951. He or she should prove the act of the trespass made up of the abuse of the secret medical information. Because the basis of the negligent liability in the Iraqi civil law depends on the material element of the fault, rather than the moral element.