I blogged earlier (see below) about the sorts of information law issues that arise routinely for local authorities and NHS Trusts. On a more unusual note, it is worth noting that the First-Tier Tribunal is due to hear appeals against notices other than the usual decision notices issued by the Information Commissioner under s. 50 of FOIA.

The first ever appeal against a monetary penalty notice issued for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 will be heard on 3-5 December of this year: Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust v IC (EA/2012/0111). The Trust was fined £90,000 for faxing patient lists containing sensitive personal data to the wrong number. The Commissioner’s press release is available here.

Secondly, Southampton City Council is appealing against a decision by the Commissioner that a licensing policy under which all licensed taxis must use surveillance equipment consisting of CCTV and audio-recording facilities, both of which must operate whenever the vehicle is in motion, breached the first data protection principle. The Commissioner issued an enforcement notice against the Council (his press release is here).

The appeals will feature my fellow Panopticonners Anya Proops (for the Commissioner in both cases) and Tim Pitt-Payne QC (for the appellants in both cases).

Robin Hopkins