In amongst the unsolicited love letters, the pictures of rudely shaped vegetables and simple abuse from those who believe a section 14 FOIA response is a deliberate conspiracy against them, the Panopticon postbag occasionally receives a polite enquiry about why we have not passed comment upon some fascinating information law development. Such a point might be made about Case C-398/15 Camera di Commercio v Manni (ECLI:EU:C:2017:197), in which the CJEU addressed, for only the second time, the ‘right to be forgotten’. Of course, in this case, we have analysed it at great length, but all well-known search engines have delisted it so thoroughly that everyone has forgotten where to find it. So here, like a vexatious requestor or a particularly unpleasant kebab, we are again. Continue reading
Implementing the GDPR in the UK: lessons from Germany?
As we all know, the GDPR is all about the harmonisation of data protection across Europe – hence its form as a regulation (directly effective) rather than a directive (domestic implementing legislation needed). Yes, but: the GDPR leaves an awful lot to member states to implement. For example: exemptions to data subjects’ rights, mechanisms for reconciling data protection and freedom of expression, and the machinery of enforcement by supervisory authorities. Until we have domestic implementing legislation, we can’t fully understand how data protection will work after 25 May 2018. Continue reading
Legitimate Interests: the CJEU off its Trolley(bus)
Back in late January, some fellow whom posterity will not recall wrote a blog about the Opinion of AG Bobek in Case C-13/16 Rigas. This Opinion was notable chiefly because it said things which were obviously unlikely to have come from the European Court, things like using “common sense” to guide the interpretation and operation of Directive 95/46/EC. Some suspected it might be a fake. What, asked Panopticon, would the CJEU make of such free-wheeling mania? The wait is over. Continue reading
Digital Economy Bill made law
What with all the kerfuffle over Brexit negotiations and the impending snap general election, you could perhaps be forgiven for failing to notice that the Government had rushed the Digital Economy Bill through Parliament in last week’s “wash up” before the dissolution of Parliament. The Bill in fact received Royal Assent last Thursday, 27 April. So why does the Digital Economy Act matter to privacy practitioners? Continue reading
Save the date: 11KBW Information Law Conference 2018
We are delighted to announce the date for the 2018 Information Law Conference will be 6th March 2018 at IET London; Savoy Place, London.
We will publish the conference agenda closer to the time.
Venue: IET London, Savoy Place, 2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL
Eggscellent DCMS GDPR Development
Who is Karen Bradley? No points if you said it was that shiny West Ham lady who sits next to Lord Sugar on the Apprentice, managing to look considerably more impressive than Surrralan even though she has spent a large part of her career propping up some pornographers. No, she is the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. More importantly, she is also the data protection Easter Bunny. Continue reading