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Private eye

08 March 2013 / Tom Morrison
Issue: 7551 / Categories: Features , Data protection , Freedom of Information
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Tom Morrison returns with his quarterly review of the world of information law

Recent editions of this column have focused on enforcement activity and the hefty fines that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has imposed. In this edition we focus on the social housing sector and its significant data protection and freedom of information compliance issues.

The impact of freedom of information on housing associations

Whereas the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) gives individuals the right to ask any person or organisation for a copy of information which is held about them, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) gives every person or organisation the right to ask any public authority for any other information it holds. In broad terms, unless an exemption applies, a public authority is likely to have to provide the information requested within 20 working days.

Some housing associations might believe they are sheltered from the impact of FIA 2000 as, at the moment, they are not “public authorities”. They would in part be right.

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DWF—19 appointments

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Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

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Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
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Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
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