Data and privacy
Couple awarded £17,000 damages for distress caused by neighbour's CCTV surveillance
The compensation is an example of the rise of "distress" claims as a result of breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).
Read moreBrexit does not spell the end of the GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) is due to become law on 25 May 2018. As this will be before “Brexit” (Britain’s exit from the EU) takes effect, the GDPR will apply in the UK from that date.
Read moreInvestigatory Powers Act gets royal assent
This week, the Queen gave royal assent to the Investigatory Powers Bill (aka "The Snoopers Charter"), marking the end of the controversial bill's passage into law.
Read moreICO issues record £400,000 fine for TalkTalk data breach
The record fine is an indication that the new Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, is looking to take a robust approach to enforcement ahead of the introduction of the GDPR in May 2018.
Read moreMax Schrems toppled Safe Harbor – will the Model Clauses be next?
On Monday, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner announced that it intends to seek clarification on the legal status of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (the Model Clauses).
Read moreICO updates Direct Marketing Guidance
On 24 March 2016 the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) published a long-awaited update to its Direct Marketing Guidance (the Guidance).
Read moreCofA injuncts revelation of celebrity's extramarital threesome
The Court of Appeal has granted a privacy injunction (its first since 2011) to prevent the Sun on Sunday revealing details of a well-known entertainer’s extramarital threesome (PJS v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 100).
Read moreChanges to data protection regulation – what could it mean for you?
The new General Data Protection Regulation fundamentally rewrites the way data processing happens across the EU. Hear more from Olly Bray.
Read moreRPC hosts seminar on 'Data Privacy and the Media'
On 28 January 2016, RPC hosted a 'Question Time' style panel discussion for a range of media lawyers on data protection and its particular relevance to the media industry and media companies.
Read moreDaily Telegraph publisher fined £30k for general election email campaign
On 15 December 2015 the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) issued Telegraph Media Group Limited (the Telegraph) with a Monetary Penalty Notice
Read moreNew EU data protection rules (finally!) agreed
On the 17th of December, and after much negotiation, a final draft of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was approved by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committee of the European Parliament.
Read moreNational Grid hit with £2m fine for health and safety breach
A sign of things to come?
Read moreSerbian forum shopper in disclosure breach of duty has privacy and libel action struck out
On 23 November 2015 Sir Michael Tugendhat set aside an order for service out of the jurisdiction of proceedings for the misuse of private information and libel which had been made by Master Roberts on 31 March 2015 in respect of an article in Politika,
Read moreTwitter found unsuitable means of communicating FOI request
The First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) (the Tribunal) has held that a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 made via Twitter is not valid.
Read moreTim Yeo loses libel action against Sunday Times
The High Court has today dismissed an action by Tim Yeo, the former MP for South Suffolk and Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, against Times Newspapers Limited in an important judgment on the Reynolds defence and the scope of politicians' Article 8 rights.
Read moreCofA upholds privacy claim by Paul Weller family
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court finding that the publishers of Mail Online infringed the privacy of three of Paul Weller's children by publishing unpixellated pictures of them on a family shopping trip in LA.
Read moreData leaks - a portent of the future?
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee have launched an inquiry in the wake of the recent cyber-attack on the TalkTalk website on 21 October,
Read more18 months on - the ICO reflects on Google Spain
The ICO has recently blogged on the cases it has received in the year and a half since the Google Spain decision last May.
Read moreDraft Investigatory Powers Bill unveiled
The draft Investigatory Powers Bill was laid before Parliament on Wednesday and leading political figures have already been attempting to calm fears surrounding the so-called 'snooper's charter'.
Read moreEU court declares 'safe harbor' data-transfer agreement invalid
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has declared that the "Safe Harbor" framework agreement cannot be relied upon to justify transfers of personal data from the EU to the US.
Read morePrivacy rights when you don’t expect them - the case of JR38
Yesterday, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed an appeal by an Appellant involved in rioting in Derry in 2014.
Read moreMGN appeals against hacking awards in Gulati case
MGN today sought permission to appeal against the very large awards of damages made by Mr Justice Mann in the eight test claims in the hacking litigation arising out of voicemail interception at Mirror Group Newspapers.
Read moreThe future of "Safe Harbour"
The future of the “Safe Harbor” is uncertain. Questions about its effectiveness have been brought to the fore in the wake of the privacy and data security scandal that followed Edward Snowden’s revelations about surveillance by US government agencies.
Read moreSize doesn't matter: regulating "big data" in a "small data" world
Big data is everywhere. Once the preserve of innovators and technology entrepreneurs, big data analysis is now routinely used by a wide range of public and private sector organisations. It’s a tool for planning, resource management and gaining competitive advantage.
Read moreCompensation for "distress-only" claims under DPA
In an important ruling, the Court of Appeal confirms that the cause of action for misuse of private information is a tort and rules on the meaning of “damage” under s13 of the Data Protection Act, allowing claimants to recover compensation for “distress” resulting from a breach of the Act without also having to prove pecuniary losses.
Read moreGoogle v Vidal-Hall: the rise and rise of data protection rights
In an important decision handed down on Friday, the Court of Appeal confirmed that misuse of private information is a tort, and that claimants may recover damages under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the "DPA") for distress without also proving pecuniary losses.
Read more91 year-old activist and angry neighbour: Supreme Court looks at police retention of personal data
Case report: R (Catt) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and ACPO and R (T) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2015] UKSC 9
Read moreApps: regulators globally push for data transparency
“Not in front of the telly: Warning over ‘listening’ TV”.
Read moreCofA applies rare 19th Century tort in granting injunction
The Court of Appeal has granted an injunction against the publication of a well-known performing artist's book to protect the rights of his son, not on the basis of misuse of private information but because publication would be likely to cause psychological harm to the son.
Read moreNo loss of confidence – causation in confidential information claims
Richmond Pharmacology Ltd v Chester Overseas Ltd, Milton Levine and Larry Levine [2014] EWHC 2692 (Ch)
Read moreBrand & Khan obtain continuing "anti-harassment" order against masseuse
The High Court has recently granted an extension to an anti-harassment injunction taken out by Russell Brand and Jemima Goldsmith, otherwise known as Jemima Khan (the Claimants), against a masseuse (the Defendant).
Read moreSupreme Court clarifies continuing police disclosure obligations
The recent Supreme Court judgment in the case of R (on the application of Nunn) v Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary and another sheds further light on the continuing duty of the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to disclose information in criminal cases post-conviction.
Read moreHow to get Google to remove outdated links to your personal data
Google has today announced how it intends to deal with the European Court's judgment in the Google Spain case[1].
Read moreNo damages for the solicitor whose private information was misused by a prostitute whom he'd short-changed
In an unusual privacy claim decided last week, the High Court dismissed the majority of a solicitor's claims against a prostitute for misuse of private information, harassment, breach of confidence and breach of contract.
Read moreSearching for answers – Google v Gonzalez
Data protection unusually made headline news yesterday when the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) handed down its landmark judgment on Google Inc. v. Mario Costeja González.[1]
Read moreWill Prince Charles's musings see the light of day?
R (Evans) v Attorney General 2014 EWCA 254
Read moreHas the Weller case created an image right in relation to the facial expressions of children?
The singer Paul Weller, acting on behalf of three of his children, was successful in his privacy action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) in relation to seven unpixellated photographs of the children and their father out shopping on a public street and relaxing in a café in Los Angeles.
Read moreICO urges app developers to respect users' privacy
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published guidance[1] aimed at helping mobile app developers comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and ensure that the privacy of app users is protected.
Read moreLast gasp of the super-injunction
Super-injunctions are almost an extinct species. 'Non-super' privacy injunctions however remain alive and kicking with according to recent figures a 100% success rate on interim applications.
Read moreCosts protection reform - privacy and defamation cases
The government has unveiled its latest attempt to resolve the tension between its plans to abolish success fees in CFAs and ATE premiums (to reduce costs in privacy and defamation cases) while still making proceedings accessible to less wealthy parties.
Read moreGreater transparency in the family courts - New Draft Guidance
Proposed new guidance recommends that decisions of the family courts should always be published, unless there are compelling reasons against publication.
Read moreCloud confidentiality – or not …
Anyone using a number of devices to access their information will be tempted to share files between those devices using a service such as Dropbox.
Read moreA Chinese lesson for private investigators
Those engaged in the investigation business – whether sniffing out personal or corporate intelligence – are well aware of the need to comply with laws that protect personal information.
Read moreNo basis for murderer's anonymity and an alert from the bench
Four media groups[1] have successfully challenged an anonymity order and related reporting restrictions made in the course of judicial review proceedings brought by the notorious murderer, David McGreavy.
Read moreNo breach of privacy in publication of information that child's father is a prominent politician
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court judgment that disclosures in the Daily Mail about a child's paternity did not infringe the child's rights of privacy.
Read moreFinancier granted permanent anonymity in defamation proceedings
Proceedings have finally drawn to a close in the case of ZAM v CFW & TFW, which involved a financier who claimed to have been libelled by his sister-in-law (the first defendant) and her husband (the second defendant).
Read moreDefence to Harassment actions reformulated
The Supreme Court has handed down a judgment in Hayes v Willoughby1 that redefines the scope of the most commonly used defence to claims of harassment.
Read moreCan schools take pupils' fingerprints?
The Times reported last week that parents at an independent school in north London had protested when fingerprints were allegedly taken from pupils without consent with a view to the fingerprints being used for the automated lunch payment system.
Read moreUK/EU conflict over the 'right to be forgotten'
The Guardian is reporting today that Britain wants to opt out of the 'right to be forgotten', the term applied to article 17 of the Data Protection Regulation which is intended to facilitate the deletion of personal data on request whether or not the data is incomplete or incorrect.
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