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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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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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