Privacy International v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs & ors – Blackstone Chambers

‘The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has given its third judgment in this case concerning the collection and use of bulk communications data (‘BCD’) and bulk personal datasets (‘BPD’) by the Security and Intelligence Agencies (MI5, MI6 and GCHQ – the ‘SIAs’).’

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Blackstone Chambers, 21st July 2018

Source: www.blackstonechambers.com

Not NPPF2: A case about prior approval applications and appeals – No. 5 Chambers

Posted August 7th, 2018 in appeals, delay, news, planning, telecommunications by sally

‘As Parliament rises for the summer recess it leaves us with a revised Framework and a call for evidence on the appeals system. As a diversion from the commentary on the former, and of some relevance to the later, this note looks at a case on prior approval for PD.’

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No. 5 Chambers, 26th July 2018

Source: www.no5.com

£100,000 fine for company that made nuisance PI calls – Legal Futures

Posted August 3rd, 2018 in fines, news, nuisance, personal injuries, telecommunications by tracey

‘A marketing company that made nuisance personal injury calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) has been fined £100,000.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd August 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Changes Proposed to Code for Crown Prosecutors to drive improvements in disclosure – Crown Prosecution Service

‘Making sure clearer, earlier information about mobile phone evidence is available before a suspect is charged with a crime is part of a raft of proposed changes announced by the Director of Public Prosecutions today. This will include mobile phone messages sent by suspects and accusers in cases where the parties are known to each other.’

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 23rd July 2018

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Prisoners to get phones in cells in bid to curb violence – BBC News

Posted July 10th, 2018 in human rights, news, prisons, reports, telecommunications, violent disorder by sally

‘Thousands of prisoners will be able to make calls from their cells, as part of government plans to reduce violence and crime in prisons in England and Wales.’

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BBC News, 10th July 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Losing out on loss of bargain when terminating in reliance upon contractual rights – Practical Law: Construction Blog

‘In the wake of the Carillion insolvency, many sub-contractors are likely to be investigating their rights to terminate their contracts with a now defunct main contractor. Looking for a clean break, they may be tempted by the explicit termination rights that standard form building contracts often contain, and that may be deployed in the event of main contractor insolvency. On the surface, terminating appears as simple as writing to the liquidator citing the relevant provision, and declaring the contract to be at an end. However, a potential trap awaits the unwary. Unwitting sub-contractors may inadvertently forfeit any right to claim loss of bargain damages, that is, the loss of profits that would have been made had the contract carried through to completion. This is potentially a highly lucrative right, particularly if the sub-contractor is at the start of a multi-year project that was expected to generate significant future earnings. This result arises from the case of Phones 4U Ltd (in administration) v EE Ltd.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 4th July 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

GCHQ cybersecurity experts investigate Dixons Carphone data breach – The Guardian

Posted June 14th, 2018 in data protection, intelligence services, news, telecommunications by tracey

‘A branch of GCHQ, Britain’s intelligence and security service, is investigating one of the UK’s biggest data breaches at a single firm, involving unauthorised access to 5.9 million Dixons Carphone customers’ cards. The National Cyber Security Centre said it was working alongside the retailer and other agencies after the attack, which also involved unauthorised access to 1.2m personal records of Dixons Carphone customers.’

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The Guardian, 13th June 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK should not legislate to control children’s use of technology, says culture secretary – The Guardian

Posted June 12th, 2018 in children, computer programs, internet, legislation, news, telecommunications by sally

‘The UK culture secretary, Matt Hancock, does not allow his own children to have mobile phones and thinks none should have access to devices overnight, but would not follow the French government’s lead in legislating on the issue.’

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The Guardian, 11th June 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

New broadband speed advert standards in force in the UK – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 31st, 2018 in advertising, internet, news, telecommunications by sally

‘Broadband providers in the UK are now subject to stricter rules over the claims they can make about the speed of their services.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 30th May 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Here we go again – Government renews bid to make directors personally liable for nuisance calls – Legal Futures

Posted May 31st, 2018 in company directors, consultations, news, nuisance, telecommunications by sally

‘The government is set to finally make good on its pledge to make the directors of companies which make unsolicited nuisance calls personally liable if their firm breaks the law.’

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Legal Futures, 31st May 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

TfL wins appeal over imposition of voice contact requirement on Uber – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 30th, 2018 in appeals, London, news, taxis, telecommunications, transport by sally

‘Transport for London has won an appeal over its imposition of a ‘voice contact requirement’ on Uber.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 29th May 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Nuisance call bosses could be fined up to £500,000 – BBC News

Posted May 30th, 2018 in company directors, consultations, fines, news, telecommunications by sally

‘Bosses of firms which bombard people with nuisance calls could be fined up to £500,000 under government proposals to make them personally liable.’

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BBC News, 30th May 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Google sued for ‘clandestine tracking’ of 4.4m UK iPhone users’ browsing data – The Guardian

Posted May 22nd, 2018 in data protection, internet, news, privacy, telecommunications by sally

‘Google is being sued in the high court for as much as £3.2bn for the alleged “clandestine tracking and collation” of personal information from 4.4 million iPhone users in the UK.’

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The Guardian, 21st May 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Mirror Group forced to pay phone hacking damages to Danielle Lloyd, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole – The Independent

Posted May 4th, 2018 in damages, interception, media, news, privacy, telecommunications by tracey

‘Mirror Group Newspapers has been forced to pay damages to a model, an actress and two former footballers over the phone hacking scandal.’

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The Independent, 3rd May 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Both sides claim victory in surveillance law challenge – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A High Court ruling today in the latest crowd-funded challenge to the government’s powers to monitor electronic communications has left both sides claiming victory. Ruling in Liberty v Home Office, Lord Justice Singh and Mr Justice Holgate ordered the government to amend a provision of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 granting powers to require telecoms operators to store records of communications, including tracking information and web browsing.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 27th April 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The Leveson Inquiry Wrapped up Early, So What Does This Mean for Free Speech and Privacy? – RightsInfo

‘The public inquiry into media ethics following the phone-hacking scandal of 2011 will not be concluded in full. Why is this happening, and what does it mean for freedom of speech and our right to privacy?’

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RightsInfo, 4th April 2018

Source: rightsinfo.org

Police Can Download All Your Smartphone’s Data Without A Warrant – RightsInfo

Posted April 6th, 2018 in consent, news, police, privacy, telecommunications, warrants by sally

‘Police officers can download the contents of your mobile phone without a warrant – even if you have not been charged with any crime.’

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RightsInfo, 3rd April 2018

Source: rightsinfo.org

Judge uses mobile in court to solve timetable problem in ‘unorthodox’ move – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 26th, 2018 in case management, courts, judges, news, telecommunications by tracey

‘A judge broke with tradition by using a mobile phone in court to solve an administrative problem. Lawyers have praised Judge Richard Todd, a divorce court judge, who had a conversation with an office clerk in a bid to avoid a delay while overseeing a High Court case.’

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Daily Telegraph, 25th March 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Watchdog faces court case over ‘lax’ broadband fibre definition – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 5th, 2018 in advertising, internet, news, telecommunications by tracey

‘Britain’s advertising watchdog is being taken to the High Court over claims its lax definition of “fibre” broadband means customers are being hoodwinked into buying slow internet packages.’

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Daily Telegraph, 4th March 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Crackdown on mobile phones at the wheel has cut number offences by half – Daily Telegraph

‘A crackdown on mobile phone use at the wheel has cut the number of offences by half, new figures show.’

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Daily Telegraph, 1st March 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk