As most readers of this blog will be aware, the use of the DPA in media claims has become big business over the last few years. A major issue which arises in the context of DPA claims which are directed against the media is the extent to which the defendant can rely on the powerful stay mechanism provided for under ss. 32(4) and (5) DPA. This was a hotly contested issue in the case of Steinmetz v Global Witness

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For those of you who feel that, despite my recent Trump-related posts, we do not spend nearly enough time on Panopticon waxing lyrical about Donald Trump and his sprawling business empire, I have some good news…yes you’ve guessed it, the judgment in Beyts v Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited is out. Continue reading →

You may like to note that, as predicted in my previous post on this subject, Trump has just signed off on the repeal of privacy protections for internet users – see here.

Anya Proops QC

For those of you who can drag yourselves away from the relentless coverage of the formal commencement of Brexit, it is worth noting that the US House of Representatives yesterday voted by a slim majority (215 to 205) to block legislation enacted under President Obama which was designed to give consumers more control over how internet service providers share their data. The legislation in question effectively made the sharing of data by internet service providers conditional on user consent. The order blocking the legislation will now be sent to President Trump for ratification, which will no doubt be swiftly forthcoming. Continue reading →

So, as the saying goes, you wait months for a subject access judgment, and then three come along at once. First it was Holyoake v CPC & Christian Candy (see Julian Milford’s post here); then it was Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing (see Chris Knight’s post here) and now, drum-roll, we have the joined appeals of Ittihadieh v 5-11 Cheyne Gardens & Ors and Deer v Oxford University [2017] EWCA Civ 121.

As ever with these cases, the facts are somewhat less than scintillating. Briefly:

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So sayeth Secretary of State Karen Bradley MP in her evidence to the Culture, Media, and Sports Select Committee on Monday 24th October 2016. In fact, her precise words were: ‘We will be members of the EU in 2018 and therefore it would be expected and quite normal for us to opt into the GDPR and then look later at how best we might be able to help British business with data protection while maintaining high levels of protection for members of the public’ (see here). This statement has since been welcomed by Elizabeth Denham, as reflected on the ICO’s blog. Continue reading →