Motor racing chief Max Mosley, whose role in a sado-masochistic orgy was exposed in the press last year, told MPs in Britain today the country needed a privacy law to protect people from intrusion.
Mr Mosley, president of Formula One's governing body and son of 1930s fascist leader Oswald Mosley, won a breach of privacy case against the News of the Worldlast year after it published details of his German-themed sex sessions with five prostitutes.
The paper also wrongly claimed Mosley had taken part in a "sick Nazi orgy".
This was of particular sensitivity to him because of his father's role in leading Britain's 'Blackshirts'.
Mosley is still considering suing for libel and is pursuing legal action against media organisations in France and Italy for publishing intrusive photographs without his consent.
He said: "If someone takes away your dignity, you will never replace it."
He said the growth of the Internet made the rights of the individual more important because once information went on the web "it's there forever".
"When technology has evolved to that point I think the individual needs protection," he said.
Asked if he thought a privacy law would help, he replied: "I would, because I think privacy...is a fundamental right. And if you have a fundamental right it should be protected."
Britain, which has no formal privacy law, adheres to the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees a right to respect for privacy and family life, subject to certain restrictions.
Some countries, such as Australia, have their own specific Privacy Acts.
He said such a law would not interfere with serious investigations.
"One shouldn't confuse that with wishing to publish things about somebody's sex life that is of no interest to anyone except the individual and his wife," he said.
Mr Mosley also called for a mandatory notification period during which people could seek an injunction against publication. It would then be up to a judge to decide whether a story was in the public interest or not.
Reuters