Category: News

Buried in three of the 250,000 diplomatic cables published two years ago by Wikileaks was an obscure reference to a curious purchase made by Google from the Pentagon. These cables record that Google has contracted to buy all surplus surveillance drones as the USA military withdraws from Afghanistan and Iraq. These drones have been used to develop Google’s controversial StreetView service. Google’s idea is to have a drone electronically follow each StreetView CCTV camera car at a height of 50

I am going to make a simple prediction; within 19 months  Local Authorities will be subject to compulsory data protection audit. Why do I think that? Well I  think it is obvious if one reads the MoJ’s consultation document that argues that the ICO should have the power to audit NHS data controllers on demand. For instance, if you consider a “complaint” to the ICO as a possible data protection compliance issue, then the following Table shows that Local Government

Last week, Home Secretary Theresa May made a speech that could fundamentally alter the Conservative Party’s approach to human rights. The Party's currently policy position is that it would like to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with its own Bill or Rights, but it would not derogate from the European Convention of Human Rights. Theresa May has put that all in doubt. In her speech, she said: “…And we need to stop human rights legislation interfering with our ability to

Whilst preparing for “my day in Court”, I have realised that I also have had, for over a year, some further detail which explains why the European Commission thinks the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is a deficient implementation of Directive 95/46/EC. I think I have the answer and this extra detail is the subject of this blog. Next Monday (11th Feb), I have my Tribunal hearing as to whether I can obtain the full text of the letters sent by

Happy Data Protection Day. What better time for the European Parliament to publish a report that calls for more "legal certainty in jurisdiction-spanning transfers of data involving a multiplicity of data controllers and processors” and for the Safe Harbor Agreement to be extended to Cloud Service providers based in the USA. In a passage that will get all the headlines, the Report also calls for more transparency in relation to how law enforcement agencies in third countries (but in particular the USA) will use

In yesterday’s speech on the relationship between the UK and the Europe Union, the Prime Minister has raised doubts as to whether the UK will adopt both the proposed Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Directive in the field of law enforcement. Reading the runes: if the Conservatives win the next General Election, I think that implementation of both Regulation and Directive is unlikely. Why am I saying this? First, the Conservatives are going to consult business about the EU Regulations

Happy New Year. Nice to be back at work, I think not. In a 215 page report, the European Parliament has suggested 350 Amendments to the text of the Data Protection Regulation published last year. This blog gives you an impression of those proposed changes that caught my eye on a “speed read” of the Report (produced by Jan Albrecht, the rapporteur for the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs). I think the most important proposal is the fettering

On Tuesday, a joint Committee of Parliament will report its views on the proposed Data Retention Bill. This is the piece of legislation which, if enacted as published, would require ISPs, Google, telecoms operators and service providers etc to keep details of our use of the Internet (e.g. who we contact, when. where from etc.) are retained for up to a year. The purpose of this retention is to allow law enforcement agencies and national security agencies to dip into this information