Data Protection

11.06.17

Breach of privacy: Sir Cliff Richard settles claim against South Yorkshire Police

Following a high-profile, televised police raid on his Berkshire home in 2014, Sir Cliff Richard issued claims against the BBC and South Yorkshire Police for the misuse of his private information, infringement of his Article 8 ECHR right to a private life, and breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. In a recent hearing before…

3.04.17

Data-gathering sex toy manufacturer pays out $4 million in class action settlement

Standard Innovation Corporation, a Canadian company which manufactures an internet-enabled sex toy under the We-Vibe brand, has reached a settlement in a class action in which it was alleged that it collected and stored intimate data without the consent of the customer. The We-Vibe sex toys are designed to be used with the We-Connect smartphone app…

8.03.17

Breach of privacy: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse discloses victims' identities in email error

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (‘IICSA’) has referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office (‘ICO’) after accidentally disclosing the identities of 90 victims of sexual abuse who had signed up via its website. The website allowed victims to submit information to IICSA on a confidential basis. Unfortunately, the IICSA sent each victim a ’round robin’ email which…

5.03.17

Vacancy: 2-5 year PQE media law solicitor

The firm is presently looking to recruit a solicitor with experience in defamation, privacy, harassment and data protection law.  Full details can be found at the firm’s careers webpage.

£17,000 damages awarded by Scottish court in neighbour CCTV dispute

An Edinburgh couple have been awarded £8,634 each by a Scottish court as a result of round-the-clock extremely intrusive CCTV surveillance that had been carried out by a neighbour over a number of years. Factual background Mr and Mrs Wooley are a married couple who have lived with their adult son in the upper flat…

1.02.17

GMC urges increased caution over release of medical records to solicitors

The General Medical Council (GMC) has issued updated guidelines (to come into force on 25 April 2017) providing a stricter and definitive means of determining whether or not to disclose confidential medical information.  The Guidance, which can be found here, contains eight principles of good practice in handling patient information and includes a requirement to…

Libel/Defamation: Moroccan Prince wins libel and data protection appeal against Arabic news publisher

Prince Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah Al Alouai of Morocco (‘the Prince’) has won an appeal against Elaph Publishing Limited (‘Elaph’) that now allows him to advance a claim under the Data Protection Act 1998 (‘DPA’) and also overturned a previous ruling that the words published were not capable of being defamatory. Factual background The Prince’s…

27.11.16

Sex hookup site targeted in world’s second largest data breach

The dating and online pornography company Friend Finder Networks has been hacked, potentially exposing private details of more than 412 million accounts. The leaks emanated from AdultFriendFinder, whose website describes it as ‘The hottest Dating, Hookup and Sex Community’. Its sister sites Cams.com, Penthouse.com, Stripshow.com and iCams.com were also targeted.  At least 5.2 million UK…

3.11.16

Leveson 2 and Section 40 libel costs

The Leveson Inquiry examined the practices of the British press.  It was intended that Part 1 of the Inquiry would address ‘the culture, practices, and ethics of the press’ and Part 2 would address ‘the extent of unlawful or improper conduct within News International and other media organisations’. In November 2012, the Inquiry reported its Part…

7.10.16

TalkTalk receives record £400,000 fine for failing to protect customers' data

TalkTalk, the internet service provider has been fined £400,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for security failings that led to the company being hacked back in October 2015.  The fine is the highest imposed by the UK data’s regulator to date and close to the statutory maximum of £500,000. It is understood from the ICO’s investigation…