Do you collect personal data from children, whether deliberately or by accident? If so you’d better read this…

Legal Update

Protecting children and their data in the online environment

Published Article

Bruce Willis AI and the problem with deepfakes

A deepfake of Bruce Willis is advertising Russian mobile phones. Many great artistic and metaphysical questions are raised by this performance. However, this article is going to look at the intellectual property law implications, from a UK perspective.

Legal Update

DSA approved: Targeted Advertising Rules explained

The Digital Services Act (the “DSA”) has today (27 October) been given the go-ahead by the EU Council and will enter into force by early 2024.

Legal Update

Economic crime and cybercrime

It is clear that the digital landscape, often termed cyberspace, is a man-made environment, in which human behaviour dominates and where technology both influences and aids our role in it — through the internet, telecoms and networked computer systems, which are often interdependent. The extent to which any organisation is potentially vulnerable to cyber-attack depends on how well these elements are aligned.

Legal Update

Data reform in the UK

Since the UK left the EU and are now able to move away from the EU data protection regime, the UK government have implemented a national data strategy with the aim of reducing the burden on organisations but maintaining a high data protection standard.

Legal Update

Are local authority companies subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000?

In this article we look at local authority companies and whether they are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. And for those that are, what information are they legally obliged to submit.

Legal Update

Digital Markets Act and Data Platforms - FRANDs for life?

The Digital Markets Act (the “DMA”) joins the dots between competition law and data protection law and actively targets data-driven platforms. It is also a comprehensive regulation to take note of, with familiar GDPR-style fines tied to turnover.

Legal Update

Avoiding the pitfalls of WhatsApp

The use of social media platforms and applications can have overwhelmingly positive benefits for public bodies. However, regulatory action recently taken by the Information Commissioner, has highlighted various pitfalls that public bodies should seek to avoid if allowing staff to use social media as a communication tool.

Legal Update

ICO consultation on research provisions guidance

The data protection legislation (namely, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018) contain various provisions that deal with the processing of personal data for research purposes.

Legal Update

More good news for data controllers: High Court finds local authority not vicariously liable for the actions of social worker who went off on a "frolic of her own"

Public bodies will be pleased to hear that another significant court decision (Ali v Luton Borough Council [2022] EWHC 132 (QB)) has been made that is favourable to data controllers.

Published Article

Five top tips for strong data compliance in 2022

This article has five excellent top tips for strong data compliance in 2022, including; embracing near misses, leading from the top, outcomes-focused training, learning walks, consequences.

Legal Update

Stemming the tide of data breach claims: good news for data controllers

The cases summarised give considerable comfort to data controllers seeking to defend themselves against claims that relate to breaches arising as a result of a failure rather than a direct act and/or are based on assertions of damage or distress that are exaggerated, unsubstantiated or bear little relation to the breach itself.

Press Release

Reaction: Supreme Court rules in favour of Google

The Supreme Court has unanimously overturned the Court of Appeal’s 2019 decision in the case Lloyd (Respondent) v Google LLC (Appellant) which allowed the claimant, Mr Lloyd, to serve a representative action on Google on behalf of over four million iPhone users who were seeking damages for ‘loss of control’ of personal data.

Legal Update

What are the requirements of cookie law

Cookies and similar technologies are a useful and often necessary tool for online businesses, but their use is governed by both the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the GDPR.

Legal Update

Steps to take following a data breach: reporting, criminal charges and injunctions

Student and staff files will be full of personal data, much of which may be particularly sensitive such as health information (known under the data protection legislation as “special category” data).

Published Article

Confidential information and subject access disclosure

In February 2021, the High Court handed down judgment London Borough of Lambeth v AM (No. 2) [2021] EWHC 186 (QB), in which Browne Jacobson LLP acted for the Claimant Council. The judgment is critical reading for public bodies who are required to take action to restrict the use of confidential information in circumstances where that information has been inadvertently disclosed to a third-party.

Legal Update

Lloyd v Google – what next?

The Supreme Court’s pending decision could potentially open the floodgates for data privacy litigation going forward.

Training

Claims club - 16 June 2021

Watch our on-demand video for our popular Claims Club where we discussed the risk of data sharing, risks in a changing climate, highway claims and what we can see on the horizon.

Legal Update

High Court grants local authority injunction to prevent breach of confidence

This judgment is critical reading for public bodies who need to take action to restrain the use of confidential information in circumstances where that information has been inadvertently disclosed to a third party.

Legal Update

Brexit - now what for data protection law?

UK organisations need to comply with the UK GDPR and continue to be subject to the EU GDPR where EU data is being processed, so there may be two versions of the GDPR to comply with for some personal data processing.

Legal Update

Health care apps – Part 1 of 2: Exploring the ins and outs of intellectual property (IP)

The adoption of smart technology solutions by the health and care sector has exploded in 2020. The pandemic has driven the sector to increase its use of smart phone technology solutions (“Apps”), an example of which is conducting video consultations and assessments.

Guide

Brexit overview: your use of data and Brexit

Despite the lack of clarity around Brexit, there are key data issues that can be addressed now. We can help you with the steps you need to take to mitigate the risks.

Legal Update

Corporate transparency and register reform: Government response now published

In May 2019 the Government consulted on a range of options to enhance the role of Companies House and increase the transparency of companies and other legal entities. On 18 September 2020 BEIS published the Government's response following a huge response to the consultation.

Training

In-House Lawyers - 12 June 2020

On demand webinar, focusing on practical solutions to utilise from home in agreements and dealings with business, data and digital law and how covid-19 has changed legal privilege.

Published Article

Top tips for implementing ‘Data Protection by Design & Default’

The GDPR requires all businesses to implement ‘Data Protection by Design & Default’ but what does that mean in practice and how can businesses practically comply?

Legal Update

Staff working from home? How do you keep data secure?

Data protection law requires every business that deals with personal data to ensure that they have “Technical and Organisational Measures ” in place to keep that data secure. Losing that data could seriously damage the company’s reputation and potentially land it with a fine from the ICO and with claims for compensation.

Legal Update

Data protection and Coronavirus

The ICO has recently released updated guidance for businesses who are grappling with concerns around data protection compliance during the ongoing Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic

Training

Common contractual pitfalls and what you can do to avoid them

During this short webinar our experts will deconstruct the most typically occurring contractual disputes.

Published Article

Protecting your business from cyber threats

Did you know that cyber attackers can use publicly available information about your business and employees to make their attacks more successful? Information is often gleaned from websites and public social media accounts.

Opinion

Do you collect personal data from children, whether deliberately or by accident? If so you’d better read this…

If you provide goods or services online that might be of interest to children then you’re going to want to go through the ICO’s “Age Appropriate Design Code of Practice” - a code requiring minimum standards of any online service aimed (or which is likely to interest) children.

Legal Update

FOIA and data protection: the difficult balancing exercise for public authorities when a request is made for third party personal data

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’) allows members of the public to request information from public bodies. As guidance issued by the Information Commissioner explains, the main principle behind FOIA is that people have a right to know about the activities of public authorities, unless there is a good reason for them not to.

Training

Richard Nicholas provides a data protection update

As part of our regular updates for in-house lawyers, Richard takes a look at what has changed in data protection law over the last six months

Legal Update

Data protection: preparing for Brexit

Although there is uncertainty about what arrangements will apply when the UK leaves the EU, there are a number of practical steps that can be taken now to prepare from a data protection perspective and to ensure that any data flows to and from the EU can continue post Brexit.