Privacy watchdog calls Home Office plans threat to British way of life – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 27th, 2008 in internet, news, privacy, telecommunications by sally

“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said that a single database of phone and internet usage records would undermine the ‘British way of life’. The privacy watchdog has said that it will scrutinise Government plans for storing that information.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 24th October 2008

Source: www.out-law.com

Exclusive: Storm over Big Brother database – The Indpendent

Posted October 15th, 2008 in data protection, internet, news, privacy, telecommunications, terrorism by sally

“Early plans to create a giant ‘Big Brother’ database holding information about every phone call, email and internet visit made in the UK were last night condemned by the Government’s own terrorism watchdog.”

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The Independent, 15th October 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Mosley takes privacy battle to Strasbourg – The Guardian

Posted October 6th, 2008 in human rights, media, news, privacy by sally

“Max Mosley, the president of formula one’s governing body, is to continue his challenge to the law of privacy by taking his case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.”

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The Guardian, 4th October 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Government spies could scan every call, text and email – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 6th, 2008 in internet, news, privacy, telecommunications by sally

“Ministers are considering a £12 billion plan to monitor the e-mail, telephone and internet browsing records of every person in Britain.”

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Daily Telegraph, 5th October 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Suicide ban ‘breaches right to privacy’ – The Times

Posted October 3rd, 2008 in assisted suicide, news, privacy by sally

“A woman suffering from multiple sclerosis is facing the ‘dilemma’ of when to take steps to kill herself or whether to wait until she needs help from her husband and risk his prosecution, the High Court was told yesterday. ”

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The Times, 3rd October 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Expert warns that proposed ICO powers could be weak – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 1st, 2008 in news, privacy by sally

“The Department [sic] of Justice’s plans to change the Information Commissioner’s powers will weaken the privacy regulator, a privacy law expert has warned. The planned changes could give organisations a way to avoid penalties, the expert said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 30th September 2008

Source: www.out-law.com

Payout over Diana and Dodi photos – BBC News

Posted September 22nd, 2008 in damages, media, news, privacy, royal family by sally

“A British photographer has been ordered to pay damages to Mohamed Al Fayed for taking pictures of his son Dodi Fayed kissing Princess Diana on his yacht.”

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BBC News, 19th September 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Pressure group complains about five-year number plate retention – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 17th, 2008 in closed circuit television, data protection, news, privacy, road traffic by sally

“Activists have complained to the UK’s privacy regulator about plans to keep information gleaned from number plate-reading cameras for five years. Privacy International has said that the keeping of data for that long is ‘unnecessary and disproportionate’.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 16th September 2008

Source: www.out-law.com

Sun website censured over video footage – Reuters

Posted August 20th, 2008 in internet, media, news, privacy by sally

“The Sun newspaper website has been censured by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in a landmark ruling over the use of undercover video footage of a man convicted of child pornography offences.”

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Reuters, 19th August 2008

Source: www.reuters.com

Head of Met had his rival bugged – The Times

Posted August 18th, 2008 in interception, news, police, privacy by sally

“Britain’s most senior Asian policeman was illegally bugged and spied on in a clandestine operation sanctioned by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, according to leaked Scotland Yard documents.”

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The Times, 17th August 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Teachers fear hidden CCTV cameras in schools – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 18th, 2008 in closed circuit television, news, privacy, teachers by sally

“Almost a quarter of teachers are worried about ‘hidden’ surveillance cameras in their schools, according to research published by a teachers union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.”

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Daily Telegraph, 17th August 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Privacy awareness not backed up by behaviour, survey finds – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 13th, 2008 in internet, news, privacy by sally

“Almost 90% of UK internet users are prepared to give away private data despite 84% of the same users claiming to be very guarded about online privacy.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 13th August 2008

Source: www.out-law.com

Watchdog clears Google’s street cameras – The Guardian

Posted July 31st, 2008 in internet, news, privacy by sally

“Google’s controversial Street View service – which will offer ground-level pictures of every UK street online -can finally be launched in Britain, after a privacy watchdog said it had no complaints about the service.”

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The Guardian, 31st July 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd – Times Law Reports

Posted July 30th, 2008 in law reports, media, privacy by sally

Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd

Queen’s Bench Division

“It was not for the media to expose sexual conduct between consenting adults which did not involve any significant breach of the criminal law except where there was a countervailing public interest because at least one of the established limiting principles, such as victimisation or corruption of the young, came into play.”

The Times, 30th July 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Legal Opinion: Privacy on parade in Fleet Street and the law courts – The Independent

Posted July 30th, 2008 in media, privacy, special report by sally

“Our shy and retiring privacy law is rarely out of the media spotlight. The media lawyer Amber Melville-Brown suggests why we should be grateful that it exists.”

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The Independent, 30th July 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Max Mosley case: are judges strangling the freedom of the press by stealth? – The Times

Posted July 30th, 2008 in media, privacy, special report by sally

“A ‘dangerous’ precedent of which the victim is public morality; a ruling that trivialises ‘unspeakable and indecent behaviour’ that is ‘depraved, brutal and repugnant’, thundered Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, this week.”

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The Times, 29th July 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted July 29th, 2008 in damages, law reports, media, privacy by sally

Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2008] EWHC 1777 (QB); [2008] WLR (D); [2008] WLR (D) 259

“Sado-masochistic behaviour, even where it involved adultery, was not a matter of genuine public interest justifying interference by the media in an individual’s private life. Exemplary damages were not available in a claim for infringement of privacy: a claim for compensatory damages could reflect an element of aggravation. Certain principles were applicable in the assessment of compensatory damages for infringement of privacy.”

WLR Daily, 28th July 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

A canny kiss and tell – The Guardian

Posted July 28th, 2008 in defamation, privacy, special report by sally

“The News of the World editor, Colin Myler, will this week be examining the complex balance sheet resulting from his near-£1m legal battle with Max Mosley. But the financial penalties are by no means fatal, either for Myler’s career or for the fortunes of his paper. In short, this is very far from the end of the world for the News of the World. Or the end of the line for kiss and tell.”

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The Guardian, 28th July 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Podcast 75: Carl Gardner on the Mosley judgment, privacy and exemplary damages – Charon QC

Posted July 26th, 2008 in damages, defamation, podcasts, privacy by sally

“Today I am talking to Carl Gardner, barrister and author of the Head of Legal blog, about the judgment of Mr Justice Eady in Mosley. We examine the developing law on privacy, exemplary damages and question whether the decision was in fact a ‘landmark’ decision in some aspect, including, as a side effect, the law on consent generally after R v Brown.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 26th July 2008

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Punishment that was not a crime: why Mosley won in the high court – The Guardian

Posted July 25th, 2008 in defamation, news, privacy by sally

“It was at 7:50am on Thursday July 10 when it all started to go really wrong for the News of the World. It was then, on the fourth day of Max Mosley’s privacy action, that the paper’s barrister, Mark Warby QC, received the devastating news from his clients. Woman E, the dominatrix paid £12,000 to secretly film Mosley in a sadomasochistic orgy, wasn’t coming to court that morning to appear as the paper’s star witness after all. ‘Her emotional and mental state is such that it would not be fair or reasonable to call her to give evidence’, Warby told the judge, Mr Justice Eady.”

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The Guardian, 25th July 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk