Shortly after the release of the communiqué from the most recent ministerial meetings of the ‘Five Countries’ security alliance — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US — at the end of July, we warned that the issue of the use of, and access to, encrypted services and technologies ‘remains front of mind for … Read more
Following on from the ICO’s recent admission around its cookie consent mechanism (for further details see our previous post here), the ICO website was down for a period of time at the end of last week. But now it is back and with a new and “improved” cookie consent mechanism (see here). Read more
The ICO has fined EE £100,000 under the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA“) for sending text messages to customers without their consent, in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (“PECR“). Background In February and March 2018 EE sent direct marketing text message to customers informing them that they would soon be eligible … Read more
With privacy issues these days commonly featuring as a board legal agenda item, recent shareholder activity at Amazon has shown that privacy is also at the forefront of shareholders’ minds. A group of Amazon shareholders sought to prevent the company from selling its facial recognition technology because of privacy concerns. Although the Amazon motions were … Read more
The GDPR came into effect almost a year ago on the 25 May 2018. As the most significant reform of data protection law in Europe for over 20 years, the legislation raised expectations of a cultural shift in attitude to data privacy. A year on from the fanfare of implementation, this bulletin looks at key … Read more
Connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are increasingly capable of creating, collecting and processing a wealth of data. However, in order for vehicle manufacturers and CAV stakeholders to access and extract the value in such data, they must do so lawfully. This is especially true in relation to personal data which is governed in the EU (and beyond) by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This post explores at a high level how CAV stakeholders can ensure compliance with the GDPR, particularly in relation to CAVs which process personal data of vehicle drivers, owners and pedestrians. Read more
At the end of March the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published an outline of the proposed structure for its auditing framework for the use of personal data in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) context. Once finalised the framework has potential to help catalyse the use of this new emerging technology within the restrictions of data protection … Read more
The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications has published a report recommending a new approach to, and comprehensive and holistic strategy for, regulating the digital environment. Unsurprisingly the report concludes that the “digital world has not kept pace with its role in our lives” and, in particular, it calls for the establishment of a … Read more
The revelations surrounding Cambridge Analytica’s use of personal data and involvement with the Vote Leave campaign raised serious questions about the use of personal data in the EU referendum campaign and more widely by technology companies in general. The subsequent investigation by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee (the “DCMS Select Committee“) has … Read more
