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11 March 2010 / Sharon Mitchell
Issue: 7408 / Categories: Features , Media , LexisPSL , Technology
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Where does the virtual buck stop?

The modern child’s relationship with the mobile phone is complex. He is a provider and a receiver of content, a potential customer, and a potential supplier of goods/services by on-line shopping, transferring media files, etc.

The modern child’s relationship with the mobile phone is complex. He is a provider and a receiver of content, a potential customer, and a potential supplier of goods/services by on-line shopping, transferring media files, etc.

Much of this is done at the expense of a parent who contracts as subscriber to obtain the service. A range of legal issues arise. Mobile phone contracts which offer “free” devices leave the user with little perception of the cost of the physical device. In contrast, considerable personal value is placed on the content which carries with it issues of data protection and confidentiality. Data protection law involves concepts of consent.

Under the UK law, children have rights of privacy and confidentiality. In addition, the principles set down in Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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