UK Government launches taskforce to stop ‘devastating’ lawsuits against journalists – The Independent

Posted September 11th, 2023 in bills, defamation, government departments, media, news, privacy by tracey

‘The Government has launched a new taskforce which aims to put a stop to lawsuits that have a “devastating” impact on journalists. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer will meet groups from the media and legal sectors on Monday as they try to end legal threats, known as strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps).’

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The Independent, 11th September 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Data protection reform, revisited – Mills & Reeve

Posted September 7th, 2023 in bills, data protection, news, privacy by sally

‘We’ve previously looked at the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill introduced under the Boris Johnson government. That Bill was paused and then withdrawn by Rishi Sunak’s administration, its replacement being the Data Protection and Digital Information (No.2) Bill, which commenced its journey through Parliament in March.’

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Mills & Reeve, 6th September 2023

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

Lucy Letby trial: why the babies remain anonymous – The Guardian

‘The trial of Lucy Letby was conducted amid levels of press secrecy for victims and witnesses rarely seen outside proceedings involving matters of national security.’

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The Guardian, 18th August 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Research Briefing: Artificial intelligence and employment law – House of Commons Library

‘Employers are increasingly using AI in recruitment and management. This briefing explores the employment law implications and proposals for regulatory reform.’

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House of Commons Library , 11th August 2023

Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk

UK spy agencies want to relax ‘burdensome’ laws on AI data use – The Guardian

‘The UK intelligence agencies are lobbying the government to weaken surveillance laws they argue place a “burdensome” limit on their ability to train artificial intelligence models with large amounts of personal data.’

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The Guardian, 1st August 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

New Order Precedents Summarise Privacy Restrictions for Readers – Transparency Project

Posted June 19th, 2023 in children, confidentiality, families, family courts, news, privacy by sally

‘Most Family Court orders have some sort of confidentiality warning on them these days, especially in cases about children. Typically they warn that the names of the children and family members must not be published.’

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Transparency Project, 18th June 2023

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

Online safety bill: changes urged to allow access to social media data – The Guardian

‘Online safety experts will struggle to sound the alarm about harmful content if landmark legislation does not allow independent researchers to access data from social media platforms, campaigners have warned.’

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The Guardian, 19th June 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office faces legal claims over seizure of asylum seekers’ phones – The Guardian

‘The Home Office faces a wave of legal claims after the UK’s surveillance watchdog found a blanket policy of seizing thousands of asylum seekers’ mobile phones caused “significant harm”.’

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The Guardian, 4th June 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Why is Prince Harry heading to the High Court? – BBC News

Posted June 5th, 2023 in interception, media, news, privacy, royal family, telecommunications by sally

‘Prince Harry is one of four people claiming Mirror Group newspapers hacked their voicemails. It is one of several cases the Duke of Sussex is currently involved in with British tabloids.’

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BBC News, 5th June 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Law Commission calls for tighter rules on use of personal records in rape trials – The Guardian

‘Greater restrictions should be introduced on the use of rape complainants’ personal records and evidence relating to their sexual behaviour to avoid rape myths contaminating trials in England and Wales, a government-commissioned review has said.’

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The Guardian, 23rd May 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Google representative action on behalf of 1.6m people struck out – Legal Futures

‘The High Court has struck out a representative action brought on behalf of 1.6m people who claimed Google and DeepMind Technologies misused their medical records.’

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Legal Futures, 22nd May 2023

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Jeevan Hariharan: The Changing Face of Horizontal Effect – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted May 19th, 2023 in constitutional law, human rights, judges, news, privacy, speeches by tracey

‘On 10 March, Lord Sales delivered the Cambridge Freshfields Annual Law Lecture on the topic of “constitutional values in the common law of obligations”. The lecture, which has not been discussed so far on this blog, seeks to explain how constitutional values familiar from the world of public law (such as freedom of expression, liberty and access to justice) feature in private law areas such as tort and contract. In the course of the speech, Lord Sales articulates a particular conception of how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) relates to the way UK courts resolve disputes between private parties, an issue commonly referred to following the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) as “horizontal effect”. Lord Sales’ picture, which is summarised briefly below, is revealing because it offers an insight into how the Supreme Court, as currently constituted, seems to have shifted its approach in relation to horizontal effect. As I explain, the HRA’s horizontal effect was central in particular to the development of the English law of privacy. More recently, however, there is evidence of the court rejecting arguments based on the ECHR and HRA in the private law context. This can be understood as a continuation of a well-documented and controversial trend discernible in public law decisions, where the court has criticised the tendency to focus on the HRA and increasingly championed common law constitutional rights.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th May 2023

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Police barred from requesting rape victims’ medical and school records – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 16th, 2023 in education, medical records, news, police, privacy, prosecutions, rape, victims by sally

‘Police will be barred from asking for rape victims’ therapy, health, school or other personal records unless it is “absolutely necessary” under new laws to reverse plummeting conviction rates.’

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Daily Telegraph, 16th May 2023

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Warnings over NHS data privacy after ‘stalker’ doctor shares woman’s records – The Guardian

‘The confidentiality of NHS medical records has been thrown into doubt after a “stalker” hospital doctor accessed and shared highly sensitive information about a woman who had started dating her ex-boyfriend, despite not being involved in her care.’

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The Guardian, 14th May 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Misuse of private information in UK law – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 10th, 2023 in data protection, freedom of expression, human rights, news, privacy by sally

‘Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘the Convention’) protects a person’s right to “respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence”, while article 10 protects the right to freedom of expression.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 9th May 2023

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

WhatsApp and other messaging apps oppose “surveillance” – BBC News

Posted April 18th, 2023 in bills, child abuse, children, encryption, internet, news, privacy by sally

‘Encrypted messaging services have jointly called for changes to parts of the UK Online Safety Bill (OSB).’

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BBC News, 18th April 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The Tate Modern case: are human rights relevant to property law cases between private parties? – Mills & Reeve

Posted April 11th, 2023 in human rights, news, nuisance, privacy, Supreme Court by sally

‘The recent Supreme Court decision of Fearn v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery [2023] will, no doubt, become the leading case in relation to the law on private nuisance, and one might, understandably, overlook the case in terms of what it said about human rights. The Supreme Court said that Article 8, the right to respect for private and family life, was an “unnecessary complication and distraction in this case”.’

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Mills & Reeve, 6th April 2023

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

Nuisance law and a diverging of judgments – Solicitors’ Journal

Posted March 30th, 2023 in judgments, news, nuisance, privacy, Supreme Court by sally

‘Gordon Wignall explores a nuisance case in the Supreme Court about the Tate Modern and Richard Roger’s glass dwellers’ lack of privacy.’

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Solicitors' Journal, 27th March 2023

Source: www.solicitorsjournal.com

SLAPPs – defamation, privacy, public participation and reform – Mills & Reeve

‘SLAPPs – what are they? If you’ve asked yourself that question, it’s most likely a good thing. In this article we take a look at the impact of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), which present an important issue within society, politics and the legal profession, particularly in a libel and privacy context.’

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Mills & Reeve, 14th March 2023

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

Is Sharing Caring? Disclosures from the Family Courts to Professional Regulators – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Guardian newspaper reported the decision in Re X (Disclosure to Social Work England: Findings of Domestic Abuse) [2023] EWHC 447 (Fam) with the headline, “social worker who abused ex-partner loses fight to keep details from regulator”. Reading that one might instinctively think, “well, of course he lost”. For my part, when I read beyond the Guardian’s journalism and into Knowles J’s 67 paragraph judgment in this matter, I may also have thought “well, of course he lost”.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 14th March 2023

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com