Straw forced into retreat over ‘Big Brother’ data sharing plan – The Independent

Posted February 24th, 2009 in data protection, news by sally

“The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, will make a U-turn over sweeping new powers which were to allow public bodies to swap the data they hold on individuals.”

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The Independent, 24th February 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

ICO strengthens criticism of Government data sharing – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 20th, 2009 in data protection, government departments, news by sally

“The Government’s controversial plans to share personal data between departments and with the private sector are ‘too wide’ and the safeguards ‘weak’ according to privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).”

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OUT-LAW.com, 18th February 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Surveillance will cost more than £34 billion say Convention on Modern Liberty – The Times

Posted February 18th, 2009 in data protection, news, privacy by sally

“The cost of running Britain’s state-run databases over the next ten years has soared to £34 billion, according to estimates from a new campaign against what it called the surveillance society.”

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The Times, 18th February 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Government compiles travel records database – The Independent

Posted February 9th, 2009 in data protection, news by sally

“The Government is compiling a database to track and store the international travel records of millions of people. ”

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The Independent, 8th February 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

ICO urges organisations to promise to do better on privacy – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 3rd, 2009 in data protection, news, privacy by sally

“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has asked businesses and public bodies to promise that they will do more than their legal duty to protect the privacy of people whose personal data they hold.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd February 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Data Bill ‘will wipe out privacy at a stroke’ – The Independent

Posted January 27th, 2009 in data protection, news, privacy by sally

“Sweeping new laws to allow ministers to release the private details of millions of people to a string of public bodies or private firms have been condemned as being  ‘open sesame to a vast increase in government power’.”

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The Independent, 27th January 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Politicians and Celebrities to be protected from child database – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 27th, 2009 in children, data protection, news, privacy by sally

“Celebrities and politicians will be able to keep their details off a controversial new database listing the personal details of every child in England, it has been reported.”

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Daily Telegraph, 27th January 2009

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Children’s database ContactPoint launched despite security fears – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 26th, 2009 in children, data protection, news, privacy by sally

“ContactPoint will include the names, ages and addresses of 11 million under-18s as well as information about their parents, GPs and schools. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have pledged to scrap the £224million online system – which will be accessed by at least 330,000 workers in the education, health, social care, youth justice and voluntary sectors – because they believe there is a danger that sensitive information will be mislaid or lost.”

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Daily Telegraph, 26th January 2009

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Threat to privacy under data law, campaigners warn – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 26th, 2009 in data protection, news, privacy by sally

“Data held by the police, the NHS, schools, the Inland Revenue, local councils and the DVLA could all end up in private hands, according to Privacy International.”

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Daily Telegraph, 26th January 2009

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Home Office guilty of data breach – BBC News

Posted January 22nd, 2009 in data protection, government departments, news by sally

“The Home Office broke data protection laws when a contractor lost a memory stick with information on thousands of prisoners, a watchdog has ruled.”

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BBC News, 22nd January 2009

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Retired police chief arrested for ‘data misuse’ trying to find colleague’s dog – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 21st, 2009 in data protection, news, police by sally

“Andy Brown, the ex-assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, was questioned by officers from the professional standards department over the case of former Chief Supt Elizabeth Preece’s missing spaniel.”

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Daily Telegraph, 20th January 2009

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Government data sharing plan could extend to private sector – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 16th, 2009 in data protection, government departments, news, privacy by sally

“A Government plan to allow more extensive sharing of personal data is not restricted to the public sector and could result in Government-collected information being shared with private companies, a privacy expert has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 16th January 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Big Brother database a ‘terrifying’ assault on traditional freedoms – The Independent

Posted January 15th, 2009 in data protection, government departments, news, privacy by sally

“Sweeping new powers allowing personal information about every citizen to be handed over to government agencies faced condemnation yesterday amid warnings that Britain is experiencing the greatest threats to civil rights for decades.”

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The Independent, 15th January 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

British data protection standard is published – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 14th, 2009 in data protection, news, standards by sally

“A set of instructions on how organisations can stay within the Data Protection Act (DPA) while storing personal information has been published by British Standards (BSI).”

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OUT-LAW.com, 14th January 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Privacy watchdog warns companies on self-serving privacy policies – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 13th, 2009 in data protection, news, privacy by sally

“Privacy policies are full of jargon and are designed to reduce organisations’ liability rather than to help people understand what their personal data might be used for, the UK’s privacy watchdog has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 12th January 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Government failed to clamp down on data loss – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 12th, 2009 in data protection, government departments, news by sally

“Government departments have failed to tighten data handling rules despite losing 30 million personal files in two years, it has been disclosed.”

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Daily Telegraph, 12th January 2009

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

S and Marper v United Kingdom (Application Nos 30562/04 and 30566/04) – Times Law Reports

Posted December 8th, 2008 in data protection, DNA, human rights, law reports by sally

S and Marper v United Kingdom (Application Nos 30562/04 and 30566/04)

European Court of Human Rights

“The blanket and indiscriminate nature of the powers of retention of fingerprints, cellular samples and DNA profiles of persons suspected but not convicted of offences failed to strike a fair balance between the competing public and private interests.”

The Times, 8th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Ministers fight to keep late abortions secret – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 8th, 2008 in abortion, data protection, news, statistics by sally

“Late abortions of ‘less than perfect’ foetuses are the subject of a secrecy row with the Government.”

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Daily Telegraph, 8th December 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Police are ordered to destroy all DNA samples taken from innocent people – The Times

Posted December 5th, 2008 in data protection, DNA, human rights, news, police by sally

“More than 1.6 million DNA and fingerprint samples of innocent people on police databases must be destroyed after a court ruled yesterday that keeping them breaches human rights.”

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The Times, 5th December 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

DNA database innocents win landmark European court ruling – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 4th, 2008 in data protection, DNA, EC law, human rights, news by sally

“Two men from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, who were previously cleared of criminal charges, have won a major victory after the European Court of Human Rights ruled keeping their DNA on the British police database breached their human rights.”

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Daily Telegrap, 4th December 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk