In the U.K., and elsewhere in the world, the burning question at the moment is how we move forward in this pandemic, not just from a health perspective, but from an economic perspective as well. We all want to know what the so-called ‘exit strategy’ will be. One of the possible facets of the strategy […]
The Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal decision in Various Claimants v WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc [2018] EWHC Civ 2339 finding the appellant (“Morrisons”) not vicariously liable for the illegal acts of a rogue employee. It was a unanimous decision. The Supreme Court judgment is available here. The Supreme Court considered: 1. Whether […]
The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (‘GDPR’) has introduced the concept of ‘Data Protection by Design and Default’ (‘DPbDD’) into the data protection framework.[1] ‘Privacy by Design’ is not a new concept; it was formulated by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in the 1990’s and is based on seven foundational principles[2]. Whilst Article […]
Lloyd v Google LLC [2019] EWCA Civ 1599 To read the judgment click here. The Court of Appeal has overturned the High Court’s decision, which had refused permission for Mr Richard Lloyd to serve proceedings on Google for the alleged secret collection of browser-generated information from Apple iPhone users. Mr Lloyd had brought the claim […]
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published its 2018/2019 Annual Report on 8 July 2019. Here is a short summary: The number of enquiries the ICO received increased by 66% to just under half a million. The number of data protection complaints almost doubled compared with the previous year. Subject Access Requests made up the largest […]
By Tom Orrell & Melissa Stock Privacy law has never been a straightforward affair in England. Its development has been piecemeal over the past two centuries.[1] In fact the laws that govern information today are spread across multiple frameworks, including: libel (protecting reputation), data protection (rights over the processing of personal data), breach of confidence […]
This is an overview of DB v The General Medical Council (‘GMC’) [2018] EWCA Civ 1497 in the Court of Appeal. It is now the leading judgment in the approach to be taken on disclosure in so-called mixed personal data cases – that is subject access requests where the information requested by the data subject […]
This is an overview of the e-Privacy Regulation (‘ePR’), which will replace Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications), or ‘e-Privacy Directive’. The e-Privacy Directive protects the confidentiality of electronic communications and applies to publicly available electronic communications services. In the U.K., the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation (“PECR”) implements the e-Privacy Directive. In […]
Employee Computer Files The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that an employer may ‘freely consult’ an employee’s computer file that is not private, so long as the company’s IT charter makes a provision to do so. In Libert v France (Application No 588/13), an employee of SNCF (France’s national railway company) was […]
Last week an important case was decided in the High Court on the so-called ‘Right to be Forgotten’. The Claimants, NT1 and NT2, are businessmen who asked Google to remove links to search results that revealed their past convictions. The High Court judgment is lengthy and comprehensive. For those who wish to analyse the case […]
privacy law barrister 