The fact that there is no general legal right to privacy in the domestic law of the United Kingdom does not mean that there is no legal protection for privacy. Similarly, the fact that the US Supreme Court has declared that there is a general constitutional right to privacy does not mean that in the privacy is always better protected in the USA than in the United Kingdom. The ability of a ‘public figure’ in the USA to protect his or her reputation using the law of defamation is considerably less under the Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. Sullivan than in the United Kingdom (although some think this justifiable because of the competing interest in freedom of the press).