UK and US sign landmark Data Access Agreement – Home Office

‘Home Secretary Priti Patel last night (Thursday 3 October) signed an historic agreement that will enable British law enforcement agencies to directly demand electronic data relating to terrorists, child sexual abusers and other serious criminals from US tech firms.’

FUll press release

Home Office, 4th October 2019

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Google ‘tracking iPhone users’ case goes ahead – BBC News

‘Legal action brought against Google for allegedly tracking the personal data of four million iPhone users can go ahead in the UK, three judges have ruled.’

Full Story

BBC News, 2nd October 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Facial Recognition Technology: High Court gives judgment – UK Human Rights Blog

‘R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police and Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2341 (Admin). The High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review regarding the use of Automated Facial Recognition Technology (AFR) and its implications for privacy rights and data protection.’

Full Story

UK Human Rights Blog, 12th September 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Watchdog questions collection of public’s Gov.uk data – BBC News

‘The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office is questioning the UK government about the collection of personal data on its Gov.uk platform.’

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BBC News, 12th September 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lawyers accuse BA of ‘swerving responsibility’ for data breach after time limit is imposed for compensation claims – Daily Telegraph

‘British Airways has been accused of “swerving responsibility” for a massive data breach by trying to limit compensation payouts for victims, lawyers claim.’

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Daily Telegraph, 12th September 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Law firms “need data-sharing guidance” to avoid GDPR breaches – Legal Futures

Posted September 12th, 2019 in data protection, law firms, news by tracey

‘The Information Commissioner needs to provide specific guidance to law firms on how they can lawfully share personal data, a leading City law firm has argued.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 12th September 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

No 10 request for user data from government website sparks alarm – The Guardian

Posted September 11th, 2019 in brexit, consent, data protection, government departments, human rights, internet, news, privacy by tracey

‘Data privacy campaign groups and Labour have expressed alarm after it emerged Downing Street has ordered departments to centralise the collection and analysis of user information from the government’s main public information website ahead of Brexit.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 10th September 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Police use of facial recognition is legal, Cardiff high court rules – The Guardian

Posted September 4th, 2019 in data protection, facial mapping, news, police, privacy by sally

‘Police use of automatic facial recognition technology to search for people in crowds is lawful, the high court in Cardiff has ruled.’

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The Guardian, 4th September 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Monitoring of mobile phones – rights groups challenge police – The Guardian

‘The refusal by police forces to disclose whether they are exploiting covert surveillance technology to track mobile phones is to be challenged at a tribunal next week.’

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The Guardian, 20th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Regulator looking at use of facial recognition at King’s Cross site – The Guardian

‘Information commissioner says use of the technology must be “necessary and proportionate.”‘

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The Guardian, 12th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Information Commissioner raises privacy concerns over Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency plans – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 6th, 2019 in cryptocurrencies, data protection, electronic commerce, internet, news, privacy by tracey

‘Facebook’s past privacy breaches suggest financial information might not be safe if it launches cryptocurrency, the Information Commissioner has warned.’

Full Story

Daily Telegraph, 5th August 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Legal ombudsman faces claim over data breach – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 2nd, 2019 in data protection, electronic mail, legal ombudsman, news by tracey

‘The legal ombudsman is being sued by former complainants whose contact details were leaked in an email blunder, the Gazette can reveal.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 1st August 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Metropolitan Police ‘making excuses’ over report into Carl Beech investigation – Daily Telegraph

‘Scotland yard has claimed it cannot publish the unredacted report into its handling of Operation Midland because to do so could reveal covert policing methods and help criminals.’

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Daily Telegraph, 31st July 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

British Airways issued with notice of intention to fine £183m for passenger data breach. – 4 KBW

Posted August 1st, 2019 in airlines, data protection, fines, news, notification by sally

‘British Airways (‘BA’) are facing a historic fine of £183m following a major data breach reported by the Information Commissioner’s Office (‘ICO’) on 6th September 2018 in which hackers successfully stole customers’ personal data consisting of passenger login details, card details, addresses and travel booking information. The ICO had previously reported that the personal data of around 500,000 passengers was stolen from BA’s website and the mobile app in a different data breach which purportedly started in June 2018.’

Full Story

4 KBW, 11th July 2019

Source: www.4kbw.net

Liberty loses high court challenge to snooper’s charter – The Guardian

‘The human rights group Liberty has lost its latest high court challenge against the government’s mass surveillance powers.’

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The Guardian, 29th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

BSB updates policy on the publication of disciplinary findings against barristers – Bar Standards Board

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) last night decided to update its policy on the publication of disciplinary findings for professional misconduct. The policy will in future extend to all avenues by which the BSB puts disciplinary findings into the public domain and the lengths of time for which such findings are made publicly available have also been revised.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 19th July

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

UK privacy watchdog notifies multi-million pound fines for data breaches – Technology Law Update

Posted July 11th, 2019 in data protection, EC law, electronic commerce, fines, news by sally

The UK’s data privacy regulator, the ICO, has started issuing notices of intention to fine data controllers under the GDPR for data breaches. The maximum fine the ICO can impose for a breach of data protection laws increased from £500k under the Data Protection Act 1998 to €20m or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is greater, under GDPR. GDPR also introduced stronger data breach reporting and notification requirements.

Full Story

Technology Law Update, 10th July 2019

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

CPS cancels meeting on rape victims’ phone data due to legal action – The Guardian

‘Police chiefs and prosecutors have been accused of treating a coalition of women’s groups with contempt after cancelling a meeting to discuss concerns over requests to hand over mobile phone records in rape investigations.’

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The Guardian, 6th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

BA faces record £183m fine over data breach – The Guardian

‘British Airways is set to be fined more than £183m by the Information Commissioner’s Office over a customer data breach, the company said.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 8th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Police face calls to end use of facial recognition software – The Guardian

‘Police are facing calls to halt the use of facial recognition software to search for suspected criminals in public after independent analysis found matches were only correct in a fifth of cases and the system was likely to break human rights laws.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 3rd July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com