‘British justice on trial’: Judge urges phone-hacking jury to consider only the evidence presented to them – The Independent

“The jury that will decide the guilt or innocence of Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and six other defendants was sworn in at the Old Bailey with a warning from the judge that ‘British justice is on trial’.”

Full story

The Independent, 30th October 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

SFO could snoop on communications to uncover evidence of corruption, says director – OUT-LAW.com

“The director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has warned that the agency may use powers of surveillance to uncover evidence of corruption within corporates.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 25th October 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Phone-hacking: trial of Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks to begin – The Guardian

“The trial of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and others linked with alleged phone-hacking at the now-defunct News of the World will begin on Monday at the Old Bailey, kicking off what is likely to be one of the longest criminal trials in recent memory.”

Full story

The Guardian, 28th October 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK’s top prosecutor defends journalists who break law in public interest – The Guardian

“Britain’s most senior prosecutor has launched a robust defence of journalists who break the law pursuing investigations that have a genuine public interest. Legal guidelines had been drafted, he said, to protect reporters.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th October 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

GCHQ accused of monitoring privileged emails between lawyers and clients – The Guardian

“GCHQ is probably intercepting legally privileged communications between lawyers and their clients, according to a detailed claim filed on behalf of eight Libyans involved in politically sensitive compensation battles with the UK.”

Full story

The Guardian, 13th October 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Katie Price settles phone-hacking claim – BBC News

Posted October 10th, 2013 in damages, interception, media, news, telecommunications by tracey

“Model and TV personality Katie Price has received undisclosed damages over phone hacking, the High Court has heard.”

Full story

BBC News, 9th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Press regulation debate nears final reckoning – The Guardian

Posted September 30th, 2013 in codes of practice, interception, media, news, Privy Council, regulations by sally

“The marathon battle to introduce a new system of press regulation will come to a head on 9 October when the privy council is due to decide whether to seal a royal charter enshrining the industry’s preferred system of self-regulation.”

Full story

The Guardian, 27th September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK’s surveillance laws need overhaul, says former defence secretary – The Guardian

“Laws used by Britain’s spy agencies to justify mass surveillance and interception techniques must be reviewed to ensure they have kept pace with ‘incredible changes’ in communications, one of the country’s foremost intelligence experts has said.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Privacy International to challenge telecoms firms over GCHQ cooperation – The Guardian

“BT and Vodafone are among seven large telecoms firms which could be pulled into a legal challenge under human rights law for cooperating with GCHQ’s large-scale internet surveillance programs.”

Full story

The Guardian, 8th August 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Guardian rejects press watchdog as ‘own goal’ threatening independence – The Guardian

Posted August 7th, 2013 in interception, media, news, privacy, regulations, victims by sally

“The publisher of the Guardian has rejected a new press self-regulator as proposed by the industry, saying that the proposed funding method threatens its independence and that the biggest national newspapers will call the shots.”

Full story

The Guardian, 6th August 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd and others – WLR Daily

Posted August 1st, 2013 in disclosure, interception, law reports, media, police, telecommunications, witnesses by sally

Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd and others [2013] EWHC 2119 (Ch); [2013] WLR (D) 314

“The well established requirement for disclosure under Norwich Pharmacal principles for a party from whom disclosure was sought to be “involved” in or to have “facilitated” wrongdoing was too narrow and the court should ask itself whether the party was a mere witness or whether its engagement with the wrongdoing was sufficient to make it more than a mere witness and susceptible to the court’s jurisdiction to order disclosure.”

WLR Daily, 12th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

20 law firms implicated in ‘secret’ phone hacking scandal – Daily Telegraph

“Lawyers were the biggest users of the private investigators behind the ‘secret’ phone-hacking scandal, it has been revealed.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 26th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Police hide names of companies suspected of phone hacking – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 24th, 2013 in confidentiality, interception, news, police, theft by tracey

” More than 100 companies and individuals are suspected of obtaining illicit information by hacking, blagging and theft and The Serious Organised Crime Agency has finally handed a list of names to MPs. However, the agency insisted that it remain secret to protect those involved.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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.”

Full story

The Independent, 22nd July 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Six people falsely accused of crimes after errors in internet data disclosure – The Guardian

“Six people have been wrongly detained and falsely accused of crimes in the past year as a result of mistakes made in the official disclosure of confidential data on their internet use to the police and security services.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

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.”

Full story

The Guardian, 14th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘Canoe man’ email hack was a warranted invasion of privacy, rules Ofcom – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 3rd, 2013 in electronic mail, interception, media, news, privacy, public interest by sally

“Sky has avoided regulatory action over its admission that it hacked into emails belonging to a man who faked his own death and those belonging to his wife.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 2nd July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Name firms accused of hacking within 14 days, MPs tell police – The Independent

Posted July 3rd, 2013 in disclosure, interception, news, private investigators, time limits by sally

“The Serious Organised Crime Agency has refused to name the blue-chip companies it knows commissioned corrupt private investigators to break the law – but was immediately ordered to do so within 14 days by a committee of MPs.”

Full story

The Independent, 2nd July 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Regina v Edmondson; Regina v Weatherup; Regina v Brooks; Regina v Coulson; Regina v Kuttner – WLR Daily

Regina v Edmondson; Regina v Weatherup; Regina v Brooks; Regina v Coulson; Regina v Kuttner [2013] EWCA Crim 1026; [2013] WLR (D) 262

“A voicemail message which had been received by the intended recipient and subsequently stored in the telecommunications system of the network provider so that the intended recipient might thereafter have continued access to it by playing back the message, remained “in the course of transmission”. The interception of such a voicemail message intentionally and without lawful authority was therefore an offence contrary to section 1 of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.”

WLR Daily, 28th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Sky News cleared over ‘canoe man’ email hacking – The Guardian

Posted July 1st, 2013 in computer crime, interception, media, news, privacy, public interest by tracey

“BSkyB has been cleared of breaking the broadcasting code for hacking the emails belonging to John Darwin, the ‘canoe man’ accused of faking his own death, following an investigation by Ofcom.”

Full story

The Guardian, 1st July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk