T-Mobile staff sold personal data
On Wednesday it was reported that staff working at T-Mobile had passed on details of thousands of their customers to third party brokers. The brokers sold data about customer’s renewal dates to other...
View ArticleTory Technology Treaty
The campaigning has started by all the major parties, and anything said at this stage before an election is to be taken with a pinch of salt, but there are likely to be a fair few people whose...
View ArticleFines for Data Protection Breaches Are Coming
The Information Commissioner has new powers to fine organisations up to £500,000 for breaches of the Data Protection Act that take place after 6 April. Fines can only be imposed if a breach is serious...
View ArticleData protection seventh principle – skip it at your peril
DSG Retail Limited has been found in breach of the Data Protection Act after discovery of customers’ credit agreements in a skip at one of its PC World Stores. DSG’s Chief Executive, John Browett, has...
View ArticleInformation Commissioner fines public and private sector alike
From April this year the Information Commissioner (IC) was given new powers to serve monetary penalty notices (up to a maximum of £500,000) on data controllers for breach of the data protection...
View ArticleAn eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
Online freedom of speech activists continue to campaign against companies that have declined to do business with WikiLeaks. Companies such as Mastercard and Visa have said that WikiLeaks failed to...
View ArticleRoom at the inn for a photographer?
Can you take photos of your child performing in the school nativity production? It comes as no surprise that people are confused. The law in this area is difficult and complex. This leads to defensive...
View ArticleSwitching to cloud computing – a sensible move for the insurance CIO?
It’s always useful, when advising on issues such as cloud computing, to hear the views of CIOs, so I was delighted to be invited by Post Magazine to be part of a round table discussion on the subject –...
View ArticleBeware the Data Punishment Act
Three Councils have recently been handed significant fines by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998. Whilst the Information Commissioner and...
View ArticlePower shifts to parents over use of pupils’ biometric data
The DfE are consulting on advice for using biometric data in schools and colleges following new measures contained within the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The advice states that schools cannot use...
View ArticleData Protection in Social Care –£70K says you can’t do right for doing wrong!
A council has been fined £70,000 under the Data Protection Act after highly sensitive and confidential information was stolen from a social worker’s home. In this case the social worker took records...
View ArticleThis time next year….
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has given public authorities the heads up as to a change in their publications schemes from next year. This follows a consultation carried out by the ICO...
View ArticleP2P Filesharing – appeal court orders O2 to disclose more names
Golden Eye was licensed on terms to bring copyright infringement proceedings against people alleged to have shared pornographic works. The High Court did not find this agreement illegal but refused to...
View ArticleEurope objects to US attempts to dilute proposed EU data protection regulation
Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Justice, has taken a firm approach to US companies who have lobbied for exemption for large technology companies from the proposed EU data protection regulation....
View ArticleData protection authorities monitor privacy policies on websites
This week saw the Global Privacy Enforcement Network co-ordinate the ‘Internet Privacy Sweep’. The sweep involved participating data protection authorities worldwide (including the ICO in the UK)...
View ArticleCyber-attacks on the rise – are you prepared?
A report published today by the Home Affairs Select Committee highlights the increasing number of cyber-attacks made on UK Businesses and Government. These attacks (which include theft of personal...
View Article“Unwarrantably interfering parents” criticised by court
In T v Hall Schools of Wimbledon LLP the High Court criticised “self-absorbed” and “unwarrantably interfering parents” who made “relentless” complaints against an independent school, “as if their...
View ArticleInformation sharing – getting it right
It has been announced that the Government is to publish a report on children’s homes, after Michael Gove stated that he thought the rules surrounding information sharing may have placed already...
View ArticleGetting information sharing right for local authorities
Billed as the biggest shift in attitude across the criminal justice system “for a generation”, there’s been (quite rightly) a big fuss about the Director of Public Prosecution’s new child abuse trial...
View Article‘Right to be forgotten’ here to stay?
The European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) has made a significant ruling that individuals may request information personal data be removed from internet search engines if it is “inadequate, irrelevant...
View ArticleICO’s annual report announces growth in data protection complaints
In its annual report, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has revealed a record number of data protection and freedom of information complaints in the financial year 2013-2014. Following this...
View ArticleUS court requires disclosure of overseas data: Microsoft lose latest round of...
Microsoft has been ordered by a US judge to release information on individuals held on Irish servers owned by Microsoft Netherlands. In a heavily protested ruling, a US District Court upheld a US...
View ArticleICO’s response to Leveson – New ICO Guidance – Data Protection and Journalism
The ICO Guidance on Data Protection and Journalism has been released along with a blog by the Information Commissioner. The guide itself very clearly states that its purpose is to ‘explain’ how the...
View ArticleGovernment issues guidance on Bring your Own Device (BYOD)
The Government’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure has issued guidance to businesses considering adopting a BYOD approach and describes the key security aspects to minimise risks...
View ArticleICO issues new CCTV and Surveillance Equipment Code of Practice
The ICO has issued a new code of practice for CCTV and surveillance equipment. In his blog, Jonathan Bamford, Head of Strategic Liaison at the ICO explained that “the code must reflect the times we...
View ArticleSmart TVs too smart?
It is being reported that smart televisions record owners’ conversations via voice recognition software, designed to allow users to control television features by voice command. Privacy policies for...
View ArticleChanges to The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 – a...
Following the recent fines imposed on those making nuisance calls, the The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 is now in force. The key amendment is the...
View ArticleRight to be forgotten – one year on
It is a year since the controversial ECJ ruling known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ which allows individuals to apply to search engines to have links to personal information about them removed if the...
View ArticleRetailers missing out by not going mobile
We’re told that omni-channel retailing is the way forward if you want to be a successful retailer in today’s world. Well, according to the Centre for Retail Research, UK retailers are still not doing...
View ArticleQueen’s speech announces Investigatory Powers Bill
The new session of Parliament was opened by the Queen last week and it is clear from her speech that the use and regulation of communications data and cyber security are high on the agenda. With a...
View ArticleAverage cost of data breach rises to £3.14 million for large companies
Data breaches are on the rise and the average cost of each breach is increasing too, according to a government-commissioned survey of UK businesses announced yesterday. Over the last year, nine out of...
View ArticleWho should be trusted with the keys to encrypted messages?
This week the US federal government (who you would assume to have cyber security measures at least as effective as the UK government) suffered one of its largest ever losses of data as a result of...
View ArticleNew report calls for balance between privacy and security
Enhanced safeguards, greater supervision of data collection and the appointment of a new intelligence and surveillance regulator are three of the proposals set out in the long-awaited report by David...
View ArticleBig Data and the risk of claims for emotional distress
Increased attention from the FCA, together with the decision in Google v Vidal-Hall and others (2015), has highlighted the importance of getting to grips with the obligations under the Data Protection...
View ArticleA less private affair?
Today, those who cheat on their spouse have reason to be worried after customer data stolen from Ashley Madison – a dating website for married people who wish to cheat – has ended up on the internet...
View ArticleCarphone Warehouse: a reminder of data breach reporting obligations
The personal data of up to 2.4 million Carphone Warehouse customers, and up to 90,000 credit card details, may have been accessed by hackers on 5 August 2015. The company notified customers of the...
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