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Analysis and Commentary about Global Data Protection Laws, Including GDPR, FOI, Cyber Security and Surveillance
It’s quite simple. You’ve just bought a product and the company who just sold it to you asks for a friend’s email so they can market to them. If they buy then you (and them) get a cheque for £25. What a great idea! Unfortunately they seem to have chosen to breach some regulations. To … Continue reading “Sell your friend’s email for £25!”
CCTV is a hot topic. Following complaints by Big Brother Watch, the ICO has taken enforcement action involving both number plate recognition cameras and cameras recording people’s conversations in taxis. On 20th May 2014, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a consultation on a revised Code of Practice on CCTV. The previous version was published … Continue reading “Yet Another CCTV Code”
The Chief Surveillance Commissioner published his annual report on 4th September 2014. The report covers the period from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014 and is essential reading for those public authorities, especially councils, who conduct surveillance under Part 2 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) (Directed Surveillance, Intrusive Surveillance and … Continue reading “OSC Annual RIPA Report (2014) – Key Points”
This is an FOI decision from the Information Commissioner that I have planned to blog about for some time, but have now only just got round to blogging about it. On 11 March 2013 the ICO issued decision notice FS50468600 which involved the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The content of the decision notice … Continue reading “Disclosure of Staff Names in FOI Refusals”
Before the 2010 election, both coalition parties made a big thing about “rolling back the Surveillance State.” They announced in the Coalition Agreement: “We will ban the use of powers in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by councils, unless they are signed off by a magistrate and required for stopping serious crime.” The … Continue reading “Mind the (Surveillance) Gap!”
It has been clear for some time that personal data leads a somewhat schizophrenic existence. So identical photographs can be personal data in the hands of the police, but not in the hands of a journalist. See the example on page 11 of the Information Commissioner’s technical guidance “Determining what is personal data”, which leads … Continue reading “Quantum Personal Data”
The Draft Communications Data Bill was laid before Parliament on 14th June 2012. The Bill provides an updated framework for ensuring the availability of communications data and its obtaining by public authorities. It will replace the communications data provisions within the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). The most controversial aspects of the Bill … Continue reading “The Communications Data Bill: What Councils Need to Know”
Local authorities often receive Freedom of Information Act (FOI) requests for access to the social work records of the deceased. These usually come from family members, sometimes to assist them with a dispute or a legal claim. When making a decision about disclosure, Social Services staff are required to assess the privacy of the living … Continue reading “Access to Social Work Records of the Deceased”
The Coalition Agreement states that the government “will end the storage of internet and e mail records without good reason.” This commitment is now in tatters as the Government wants the power to be able to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK. The new law, which may be … Continue reading “Bigger Brother”
It may have sneaked under the radar in and around Xmas but an FOI request in Wales to schools produced some alarming stats. There are at least 2,840 cameras in schools across Wales, one school in Cardiff has 40 cameras for around 190 pupils. Just over a third of all the schools in Wales responded … Continue reading “DP & FOI. Coming to a school near you.”