‘Unless there is a sudden and staggering plot twist, Prince Harry’s legal battle against British tabloids for allegedly unlawfully intruding into his life reaches its most important moment on Tuesday when his claims against The Sun and the long-closed News of the World, come to trial.’
BBC News, 19th January 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Privacy is regarded as a fundamental right that is protected in multiple and varying ways. This cannot be said for privacy of the dead. This article considers the importance of post-mortem privacy and reviews the law of privacy and post-mortem privacy in England and Wales including under the ECHR. It also considers medical confidentiality and whether common arguments that pertain to the dead (e.g. organ donation, burial, testamentary dispositions and posthumous copyright) lend support to post-mortem privacy arguments. This article introduces the concept of post-mortem privacy as envisioned by Harbinja and Edwards, and discusses whether the dead can be legal rights holders with a focus on the Interest Theory of rights. This allows for the discussion of post-mortem theories and harm. It concludes by supplementing Donnelly and McDonagh’s theories on ante-mortem anxiety and Davey’s theory on chilling effects with the jurisprudence of the ECHR to create a new legal right.’
Journal of Media Law, 6th January 2025
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘An order made by a High Court judge to restrain the naming of judges who sat in proceedings concerning the late Sara Sharif, who was murdered by her father and stepmother, infringed upon the principle of open justice ‘in a manner that is without any known precedent’, the Court of Appeal heard today.’
Law Society's Gazette, 14th January 2025
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘2024 was billed to be the year of the first ‘robust and comprehensive’ UK statutory review of the extent of journalism’s compliance with data protection law and good practice, a formal appraisal which was (and is) meant to become a clear ‘part of the media landscape’ as reformed by the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 in the wake of the general/first part of the Leveson Inquiry. In sum, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) was obliged to assess and report on the extent of journalistic compliance with data protection law and good practice during the first four years of the new regime (as well as over subsequent five year periods). Reflecting the admittedly very challenging nature of this task, the ICO also gained unprecedented and far-reaching powers (Sch. 17) which enabled it to compel the provision of relevant information with only 24 hours’ notice (para. 2) and even to assess activity on site through assessment notices (para. 3). Unfortunately, as this blog will explicate, the ICO did not use any of these powers or undertake a Review which can be seen as either robust or comprehensive, produced an Outcomes Report which failed to come to any definitive view as to the extent of journalistic compliance and also elected not to proactively publicise its Review Report in any way at the time of its release.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th December 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘Britain’s data protection regulator has labelled Google as “irresponsible” for allowing advertisers to track customers’ digital “fingerprints”, amid fears even privacy-conscious users will find the online monitoring technique difficult to block.’
The Guardian, 19th December 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Prismall v Google UK Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1516. This was not a class action but a representative action, pursuant to what is now Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) 19.8, for the tort of misuse of private information against the respondents Google UK Limited (Google) and DeepMind Technologies Limited (DeepMind). The action was on behalf of Mr Prismall and a class of persons said to number approximately 1.6 million.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 13th December 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘HMRC v The Taxpayer (Appellant) and Times Media Limtied and News Group Newspapers Limited and PA Media Tax Policy Associates Limited (Third Parties) [2024] UKUT 00364 (TCC). This case concerns an application for taxpayer anonymity in the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). The taxpayer, who had initially appealed against HMRC’s denial of certain tax deductions, sought to keep their identity confidential during the proceedings and in the final decision. This request was opposed by HMRC and several media organizations, including Times Media Limited and News Group Newspapers Limited.’
33 Bedford Row, 22nd November 2024
Source: www.33bedfordrow.co.uk
‘The publisher of the Daily Mail has won a court battle after arguing that its human rights were breached by a requirement for it to pay “success fees” to lawyers representing people it had paid damages to.’
The Guardian, 12th November 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Significant changes to data protection law have been proposed by the UK government, including to rules relevant to the use of AI systems in decision-making processes and to the use of data for the purposes of scientific research, as well as new rules aimed at liberalising data held by public sector organisations and businesses alike.’
OUT-LAW.com, 25th October 2024
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘A law firm that was hacked and had sensitive client data published on the dark web has been reprimanded by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).’
Legal Futures, 14th October 2024
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The so-called Wagatha Christie dispute has gone back to the High Court, with Rebekah Vardy challenging the “sheer magnitude” of the legal costs claimed by Coleen Rooney from their 2022 libel trial.’
BBC News, 7th October 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘In Dean v Information Commissioner, the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) considered whether photographs belonging to the planning applicant, which allegedly showed planning notice being displayed, could be disclosed to the public. The judgment is notable, not least for its opening line from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (more on this in the conclusion), but also for the tribunal’s consideration of the interaction between data protection legislation and the Aarhus Convention in respect of the right to public participation in the planning process. The decision also contains strong criticisms of the Council’s failure to implement planning law adequately.’
Landmark Chambers, 17th July 2024
Source: landmarkchambers.co.uk
‘The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to the Electoral Commission after hackers gained access to servers that contained the personal information of approximately 40 million people.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th July 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘With the rising popularity of wellness apps – including those for tracking menstrual cycle, sleep and physical activity – it has become critical that providers of such technology should consider both legal and regulatory compliance and their ethical obligations, legal experts have said.’
OUT-LAW.com, 24th July 2024
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘Part I of this blog examined the protection of an individual’s HIV status under the UK’s data protection regime in the context of ongoing litigation against Grindr. Part II examines the human rights implications of the disclosure of individuals’ HIV status to third parties in the European human rights context.’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 5th June 2024
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
‘A case brought in April 2024 before the High Court of England and Wales alleges that Grindr shared sensitive information, including users’ HIV status, with third parties for commercial purposes in breach of the UK’s data protection regime. Grindr is an LGBT+ social networking and dating app with a reputation for facilitating casual sexual encounters between gay men. On their profiles, Grindr users are able to share personal health information, including their HIV status. Sharing such information before sexual intercourse is important since, in England and Wales, the transmission of a sexually-transmitted infection, such as HIV, when a sexual partner did not consent to the risk of infection can be prosecuted under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (see section 71 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021).’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 4th June 2024
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
‘Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney have taken the “Wagatha Christie” case back to court for a further hearing over soaring costs.’
The Independent, 28th May 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The past decade has seen a marked shift in the regulatory landscape of UK higher education. Institutions are increasingly assuming responsibility for preventing campus sexual misconduct, and are responding to its occurrence through – amongst other things – codes of (mis)conduct, consent and/or active bystander training, and improved safety and security measures. They are also required to support victim-survivors in continuing with their education, and to implement fair and robust procedures through which complaints of sexual misconduct are investigated, with sanctions available that respond proportionately to the seriousness of the behaviour and its harms. This paper examines the challenges and prospects for the success of university disciplinary processes for sexual misconduct. It focuses in particular on how to balance the potentially conflicting rights to privacy held by reporting and responding parties within proceedings, while respecting parties’ rights to equality of access to education, protection from degrading treatment, due process, and the interests of the wider campus community. More specifically, we explore three key moments where private data is engaged: (1) in the fact and details of the complaint itself; (2) in information about the parties or circumstances of the complaint that arise during the process of an investigation and/or resultant university disciplinary process; and (3) in the retention and disclosure (to reporting parties or the university community) of information regarding the outcomes of, and sanctions applied as part of, a disciplinary process. We consider whether current data protection processes – and their interpretation – are compatible with trauma-informed practice and a wider commitment to safety, equality and dignity, and reflect on the ramifications for all parties where that balance between rights or interests is not struck.’
Legal Studies, 3rd May 2024
Source: www.cambridge.org
‘New legislation will provide extra protections for victims’ counselling notes during criminal investigations.’
Ministry of Justice, 23rd April 2024
Source: www.gov.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2025