Smith v Lloyds TSB Bank plc [2005] EWHC 246 was a judicial decision of the English High Court relating to the Data Protection Act 1998.

The claimant, Mr Smith, was the former managing director and controlling shareholder of a company called Display Electronics Ltd (referred to in the judgment as "DEL").

Laddie J commenced his judgment by noting that Mr Smith's case appeared to run contrary to the two leading decisions in this area of the law: the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Durant v Financial Services Authority [2003] EWCA Civ 1746 and a former decision of Laddie J himself in Johnson v Medical Defence Union [2004] EWHC 347 (Ch).

Counsel for the claimants accepted this, but noted that he was bound to make that claim in case he wanted to challenge the correctness of Johnson in the Court of Appeal.

The Court was unable to accept the width of that submission, as that would mean that every document in the world would be treated as electronic data under the legislation.

In the final paragraph of the judgment the court also added that it was not necessary to consider the bank's additional alternative argument that this was not a case where the court's discretion should be exercised in Mr Smith's favour because he intends to use any material obtained from Lloyds for the purpose of re-opening the arguments which he has advanced and lost in at least two earlier sets of proceedings, and that would be an abuse of process.