Privacy actions up 22% as public fights storage of personal information on ‘big brother’ databases – The Independent

“A sharp rise in the number of privacy hearings in British courts has been fuelled by requests for ‘irrelevant’ personal information to be removed from police and other state databases, figures show.”

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The Independent, 22nd July 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

NHS body fined £200,000 for data destruction failings – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 16th, 2013 in data protection, fines, hospitals, medical records, news by sally

“An NHS body has been issued with a £200,000 fine for failing to ensure that sensitive medical information about thousands of patients were deleted from old computers that were sold online.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Privacy campaigners demand review of snooping laws – The Guardian

“Seven of the UK’s leading human rights groups and privacy campaigners have demanded an urgent review of the laws being used to authorise the mass collection and analysis of data by Britain’s spy centre, GCHQ.”

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The Guardian, 14th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Anonymity: publication and open justice – Panopticon

“The tension between transparency and individual privacy is part of what makes information rights such a fascinating and important area. When it comes to high-public interest issues involving particular individuals, prevailing wisdom has tended to be something like this: say as much as possible on an open basis, but redact and anonymise so as to protect the identity of the individuals involved. Increasingly, however, transparency is outmuscling privacy. See for example my post about the Tribunal’s order of disclosure, in the FOIA context, of the details of the compensation package of a Chief Executive of an NHS Trust (the case of Dicker v IC (EA/2012/0250).”

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Panopticon, 11th July 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Data protection enforcement in UK, France and Germany explained – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 8th, 2013 in data protection, EC law, enforcement, internet, jurisdiction, news, ombudsmen, privacy by sally

“FOCUS: Companies operating in the European Union must process personal data in line with the EU’s Data Protection Directive. But, like Google in recent years, they find themselves facing very different enforcement regimes in each country.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 5th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

ICO considers enforcement action over disclosure of ‘hidden’ personal data in FOI responses – OUT-LAW.com

“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has warned public sector bodies that they face being fined for breaching data protection laws if they disclose “hidden” personal information in their responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 1st July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

The Right to Be Forgotten – BBC Law in Action

Posted June 26th, 2013 in data protection, EC law, internet, news, privacy by sally

“The Right to be Forgotten: What information do internet companies and social networks have on us and can we delete it? Joshua Rozenberg explores the legal battle going on in Europe about a new law to enable consumers more rights to delete information held on them. We hear what Facebook thinks of the proposed law.”

Listen

BBC Law in Action, 25th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

New copyright laws give researchers right to conduct ‘electronic analysis’ of copied content – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 25th, 2013 in bills, copyright, data protection, news by sally

“Researchers that wish to conduct “electronic analysis” of copyrighted content for non-commercial purposes will have a right to copy that information under proposed new copyright laws.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 25th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Google told to delete Street View payload data or face UK prosecution – The Guardian

Posted June 21st, 2013 in computer programs, contempt of court, data protection, internet, news by sally

“Google has been threatened with criminal proceedings by the information commissioner’s office (ICO) over data secretly collected by its Street View cars in the UK.”

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The Guardian, 21st June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Public bodies use privacy laws to hide information, says watchdog – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 21st, 2013 in data protection, freedom of information, health, news, privacy by sally

“Organisations are hiding behind data protection laws as an excuse to with-hold information from the public, a watchdog has admitted in the wake of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) scandal.”

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Daily Telegraph, 20th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Government to consult on whether to make imprisonment potential sanction for data protection offences – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 19th, 2013 in consultations, data protection, enforcement, imprisonment, news by sally

“The Government is to consult on whether to introduce new laws that would make it possible for judges to send individuals to jail for offences under the Data Protection Act (DPA).”

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Prism: how can this level of state surveillance be legal? – The Guardian

“It’s hard to see how any system that captures data from millions of law-abiding citizens satisfies our right to privacy”

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The Guardian, 18th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Cybercrime needs to be better defined in order to protect privacy rights, says watchdog – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 18th, 2013 in computer crime, data protection, drafting, EC law, news, privacy by sally

“The European Commission should more clearly define what is meant by ‘cybercrime’ in order to prevent personal data from being processed in cases where it cannot be legally justified, an EU privacy watchdog has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 17th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Extending Police Retention of Biometric Material – Criminal Law and Justice Weekly

“The first Biometrics Commissioner, Mr Alastair MacGregor QC, has issued a consultation paper asking for views about how he should act in relation to the retention and use of biometric material obtained from persons who have been arrested but not charged.”

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Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 15th June 2013

Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk

Keir Starmer: terrorists could escape prosecution without ‘snoopers’ charter’ – Daily Telegraph

“There is a ‘real risk’ that terrorists could avoid prosecution if proposed internet monitoring powers are abandoned, the country’s top prosecutor has said.”

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Daily Telegraph, 11th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Purpose of social networking will determine whether businesses have data protection responsibilities, says ICO – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 6th, 2013 in data protection, internet, news, standards by sally

“Businesses that encourage staff to use social networks for commercial purposes are subject to UK data protection laws, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 6th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

“More intrusive” big data profiling would be subject to new two-tier privacy rules, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 30th, 2013 in data protection, news, privacy by sally

“Big data projects that build profiles of individuals would ‘almost certainly’ trigger privacy rules and safeguards proposed by an EU watchdog, an expert has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 30th May 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Companies will not be forced to publish results of equal pay audits, says Government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 28th, 2013 in company law, data protection, disclosure, equal pay, news, publishing, reports by sally

“Companies that are required to undertake equal pay audits would not be required to make the results of those audits public, the Government has proposed.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 28th May 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Army sniper gets £100k after MoD blew his cover – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 22nd, 2013 in anonymity, armed forces, compensation, data protection, disclosure, news, privacy by sally

“An Army sniper has been paid £100,000 in compensation after being driven into hiding when Ministry of Defence officials blew his cover.”

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Daily Telegraph, 22nd May 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Distress must be directly linked to data breach for consumers to claim compensation, rules Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 22nd, 2013 in appeals, compensation, data protection, news, privacy by sally

“Businesses do not have to pay compensation for causing distress to consumers if they break data protection laws unless the distress suffered by consumers is linked to the breach itself, the Court of Appeal has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd May 2013

Source: www.out-law.com