By way of a judgment given in February 2023, the First-Tier Tribunal substantially upheld Experian’s appeal against an enforcement notice which the ICO had issued to Experian in connection with the data processing activities it undertook in the context of providing data services to clients in support of their offline marketing activities. The Upper Tribunal has today dismissed the ICO’s appeal against the FTT’s judgment: you can access a copy of the judgment together with the Upper Tribunal’s press summary here. I won’t comment further on the judgment here other than to say that further more d ..read more

Can you get around the restrictions in the GDPR by picking up the phone and disclosing personal data orally instead of writing it down? No, confirms the ECJ in Endemol Shine Finland (Case C-740/22). Endemol Shine Finland is a television production company. It makes all your favourite Finish reality TV shows including Masterchef Finland, Big Brother Finland and Ex on the Beach Finland Afterski. This case arises out of a request the company made to the District Court of South Savo for information on possible ongoing or completed criminal proceedings concerning a person involved in a co ..read more

Panopticon Podcast, Episode 3: Regulation of AI (featuring Jamie Susskind) Thanks to all who attended, contributed and gave feedback at our 2024 Conference yesterday. As a consolation for those who couldn’t make it – and to ease the withdrawal symptoms of those who did – we are happy to present the latest episode of the Panopticon Podcast, featuring Jamie Susskind on the regulation of AI. As advances in AI technology continue apace, existing legal tools are struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, the Government has issued its consultation response on the pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, a ..read more

Crucial and difficult questions continue to bedevil the litigation of data breach claims: how much (if anything) are claims worth, and how do you take forward large volumes of low-value claims arising from the same incident in ways that are cost-effective and proportionate? The recent judgment of Nicklin J in Farley and 473 others v Paymaster (1836) Limited (trading as Equiniti) [2024] EWHC 383 (KB) is a further notable development on these fronts. The judgment is also something of a textbook, distilling the key principles on the misuse of private information (MPI) and data protection causes o ..read more

For those of you who are interested in all things online safety related, you may wish to note that Chambers has just released our latest Panopticon Podcast, in which I interview Jon Higham, Online Safety Policy Director at Ofcom, about Ofcom’s new regulatory role under the Online Safety Act 2023. I’m still working on capturing that perfect Mishal Husain vibe but we cover a lot of ground in the interview and Jon is a really interesting and insightful speaker, so this is definitely one to enjoy over your mid-morning coffee. You can catch the episode on Apple, Spotify, Podcast Index&nbs ..read more

11KBW Information, Technology and Media Law Conference 2024 Bookings are now open for our Information, Technology and Media Law Conference 2024 on Thursday 14 March. This year, our conference will be returning with a new format to incorporate the new and exciting developments in Information, Technology and Media Law. The conference will be covering the following topics: Morning Session – Data, Privacy & Media Law: General Data Privacy class actions – The picture in 2024 Data Protection Reform & Caselaw Update Here’s looking at you: surveillance law & the IPT Media & Priva ..read more

If our new episode wasn’t enough of a Christmas present, we’re delighted to announce another chance to win a “golden ticket” to our Information Law Conference on 14 March 2024! Hidden among Robin’s insights about collective litigation of data/privacy claims is a line of (who else?) Gene-Wilder-as-Willy-Wonka dialogue. If you recognise it, email the quotation and time-stamp to panopticon@11kbw.com by the end of next week to be entered into our prize draw. (See below for T&Cs and privacy notice.) Congratulations in the meantime to Ian Cutting-Jones (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation T ..read more

Delo: clarity on ICO complaints In October of this year, the Court of Appeal handed down its ruling in Delo v Information Commissioner [2023] EWCA Civ 1141 providing some helpful clarity on the Information Commissioner’s responsibilities vis-á-vis the handling of complaints lodged by data subjects. This appeal involved two main issues: (1) Is the Commissioner obliged to reach a definitive decision on the merits of each and every complaint or does he have a discretion to decide that some other outcome is appropriate? (2) If the Commissioner has a discretion, did he nonetheless act unlawfully in ..read more

Panopticon Podcast, Episode 2: Collective Litigation (featuring Robin Hopkins) All for one, or none for all?  When data breaches occur, they can affect thousands of people – but it’s in no-one’s interests to try to litigate thousands of similar claims.  Robin Hopkins tells Leo Davidson about the recent attempts to find a proportionate but effective approach to these claims, explains the upsides and pitfalls of the various options and gives his insights on the latest trends. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, whether that be Apple, Spotify, Podcast Ind ..read more

Jamie Susskind writes for the Financial Times on AI regulation: “There is more to AI regulation than safety ..read more