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Category: News

Data Protection Day: Home Secretary signs a national security certificate to permit the unacceptable

28 January 2014 1 Comment

Happy Data Protection Day. This is perhaps an appropriate day to read the National Security Certificate signed by Theresa May, Home Secretary, in 2011; it involves the capture of images from Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Congestion Charge CCTV/ANPR cameras and their onward disclosure, via the Metropolitan Police, to the national security agencies. In summary, the Certificate is broadly drafted and allows for disclosures for purposes that are not necessary for the functions of the national security agencies; the drafting could

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Leaked GCHQ Xmas Card resonates to Tolkien as Advocate General slams Data Retention Directive as breaching ECHR

12 December 2013 No Comments

  I have just received from the Dark Web, a samizdat copy of GCHQ’s Xmas card complete with cartoon from Chris Slane. The references (see below) provide a download of the complete Xmas card, which presumably can be printed out on cardboard in hard copy. I think we can assume that the card is genuine as it contains the exemption notice from the FOIA regime which I came across when I sought access to an unrestricted document (“HMG IA Standard

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Ms Reding heralds a “disappointing day for data protection” as leading lawyers have a public cat-fight

7 December 2013 No Comments

Last Friday, the Data Protection Regulation faced a tough challenge; at the Council of Ministers, two influential lawyers advising the Council and the Commission had a public disagreement which exposed two fundamentally different opinions. The unexpected (and late) disagreement was over whether the one-stop shop was lawful. Two years after the proposal was first suggested by the Commission, leading legal services counsel for the Council of Ministers lobbed a hand-grenade into the discussions: he labelled the one-stop shop as being a “very bad outcome” for data subjects and

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Amberhawk’s consultancy arm launched today

25 November 2013 No Comments

This is a brief blog to announce the launch of “Amberhawk Associates”, the consultancy arm of Amberhawk Training. This is a new development for us; we intend to ensure that Amberhawk’s reputation for high quality training is extended by providing clients with access to "top notch" advice and guidance from experienced information law practitioners. All the collaborating Associates have a strong professional reputations in the field, and have already delivered a range of information law services across a wide range of

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Has the Scottish Information Commissioner got the data protection/freedom of information interface wrong?

15 November 2013 No Comments

“The time has come" the walrus said, "to talk of many things. Of FOISA/DP interface and Scottish mis-givings”. Because of a recent Supreme Court judgment concerning the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA), the approach of Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) towards the data protection/FOISA interface is set infect FOIA Tribunal Decisions for the rest of the UK (see references for full details about relevant cases). I will put my cards on the table at the risk of a boycott of

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Data Protection Regulation: is it on or off?

1 November 2013 No Comments

Following last week’s European Summit Meeting of Heads of State, many commentators have assumed that the Data Protection Regulation will fail to meet the June 2014 deadline; I am not so sure of this and I explain why. As you know, the Regulation passed the European Parliament hurdle two weeks ago; it is waiting now for the Council of Ministers meeting in December to see what further progress it will make. Anyway before the Summit, Mr. Cameron, our PM, arrived

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EU Parliament proposes 100 million euro fines for non-compliance with Data Protection Regulation (or more).

21 October 2013 No Comments

Well I have just had a speed read of the leaked amendments that are being debated by the European Parliament today (see references). The general impression is that the Snowden revelations about the NSA has strengthened the Parliament’s view on the provisions that relate to the protection of data subjects when there is data sharing with the authorities. I have also concluded that all that lobbying by corporate USA and Internet business has come to very little. They have very little to show for their

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Select Committee criticises ICO’s approach to Millipede; prospects for successful enforcement are poor.

16 October 2013 1 Comment

In my previous blog on Operation Millipede, I said that October 8th would be an interesting day; and so it turned out. The Home Affairs Select Committee is not convinced that the Information Commissioner (ICO) is going about his investigation in the right way and MPs on the Committee made their objections abundantly clear. To some extent, I agree with the Committee’s assessment and I explain why in the blog. Contrary to the ICO’s assertions before the Committee, I think a Monetary Penalty

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UK isolated in Data Protection Regulation discussions; is it a result of NSA shenanigans?

30 September 2013 No Comments

Readers know that I have always said that the Data Protection Regulation will fail, mainly because of disagreements between Member States over content. However, my analysis was before the Snowdon whistle-blowing disclosures as to how personal data, processed by corporate American (e.g. Google, Facebook etc), are regularly harvested by the USA’s National Security Agency (NSA). I still think the Regulation will fail but I am now less certain; in the run up to Xmas, the position will become clear. But

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October 8th: is this the date when “Operation Millipede” reveals the extent of unlawful processing by some prestigious organisations?

25 September 2013 1 Comment

Put October 8th in the diary; it might be an interesting Parliamentary day for data protection aficionados. It is the day when Operation Millipede might begin to realise its potential to out-perform Leveson for headlines concerning “shock-horror”, “privacy busting” exploits. On the other hand, Government indifference could make it a damp-squib. Operation Millipede is the name coined by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) for one of its investigations; it involved blagging by private investigators where, worryingly, some of the

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