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Private eye

29 March 2012 / Tom Morrison
Issue: 7507 / Categories: Features , Data protection
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Tom Morrison returns with his quarterly review of the world of information law

The previous edition of this column highlighted the fact that, while there had been a great deal of enforcement activity in the preceding quarter, the information commissioner’s office (ICO) had seemed to have eased off using its fining powers following a pattern of fairly consistent use over the previous year (161 NLJ 7490, p 1586). The focus had very much switched to highlighting what had gone wrong and securing compliance going forward through a series of undertakings to do better. Well things have moved on since then. 


So what has been happening?

Councils in particular have been in the firing line; here are a few examples: 
  • Worcestershire County Council and North Somerset County Council were fined £80,000 and £60,000 respectively at the end of November 2011. In the Worcestershire case a member of staff e-mailed highly sensitive personal data about a large number of vulnerable people to 23 unintended recipients. The error was caused by the sender clicking on the wrong
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

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Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

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Brabners—Ben Lamb

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Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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