In amongst the headline-grabbing right to be forgotten judgments, leading to very long posts, Panopticon gets regular queries from people working in public authorities concerned about how the GDPR is going to affect their ability to use the section 40 personal data exemption in FOIA. A short post on the answer is warranted. Continue reading
NT1 + NT2 = Blogging to the Power of A Million (Words)
It has taken some time for the principles recognised – somewhat ambiguously – in Google Spain to be tested in the English courts. Although the so-called right to be forgotten has rarely left the public memory (at least of that wretched and spindly section of the public which is interested in data protection), taking on Google takes guts, money and an ability to overlook the risk of the Streisand effect. NT1 & NT2 v Google LLC [2018] EWHC 799 (QB) is the battle royale you have been waiting for. But if you want brevity, look elsewhere. Continue reading
A Judgment to Remember
The judgment of Warby J in NT1 & NT2 v Google LLC [2018] EWHC 799 (QB) – the first (and second) right to be forgotten trials in England and Wales – has now been handed down. You can read it here and there is a summary here. Who wins? It’s a 1-1 draw, with Google winning on the facts of NT1 and losing on the facts of NT2. Continue reading
Marketing consent emails – ICO issues two monetary penalties
Ok so hands up whose email inbox has recently been littered with emails inviting you to consent to receiving marketing communications or otherwise inviting you to update your marketing preferences. ‘Why is this happening?’ you may well ask? Well it’s happening because companies which want to be able to send you lots of nice marketing material for now and evermore are worried that, when the GDPR comes into force, with its new much stricter rules on consent, they won’t be able to send you such invitations and will get into trouble with the ICO if they do so. Which raises the interesting question of whether sending such emails is itself permissible under the existing legislative regime. Continue reading
Malnick: section 36 reasonableness and the functus ICO
The Upper Tribunal’s most recent judgment – IC v Malnick and ACOBA (GIA/447/2017) – is a rare thing these days: a binding decision that makes a meaningful and general (rather than fact-specific) contribution to FOIA jurisprudence. In particular, it tells us (1) how to assess the reasonableness of a qualified person’s opinion for section 36 FOIA purposes, and (2) whether the FTT can remit a case to the ICO for a fresh decision if it allows an appeal. Continue reading
Remembering the Right to be Forgotten
It all seems a long time ago that the CJEU handed down its judgment in Google Spain and inculcated the right to be forgotten doesn’t it? Commentators – including here and here – opined with varying degrees of wailing and gnashing of teeth about the implications of it, and how endless litigation was anticipated. But there hasn’t been all that much. The lion has been sleeping so far. Continue reading