1 9 October 2004

News:

HFC Bank has volunteered to provide the Information Commissioner’s Office with a full report on the blunder that led to 2,600 customers receiving emails, with the email addresses of all recipients in plain view.

The tension between privacy professionals and Government agencies on both sides of the Atlantic has been demonstrated by reaction to US proposals for its Secure Flight project and The European Justice and Home Affairs Council proposals for its Visa Information System (VIS).

The Hospital Chaplaincies Council is waiting to see if a Department of Health report, delivered this week, will ease restrictions on the access to patient religious data by chaplains and other faith representatives.

Features:

In the past few weeks, I have been following with great interest the fascinating series published by The Guardian on three consecutive Saturdays about how life will be like in 2020. One of the most thought-provoking articles was published in the last instalment of the series and looked at the way in which the current intrusion by the state into our daily lives is likely to evolve. Today, we face an ever growing number of CCTV cameras, the constant development of biometrics and the prospect of a national ID card programme. So by 2020 the right to individual privacy could have effectively disappeared. Something like the famous Orwellian tale, but 36 years later.

Public Procurement contracts are likely to be the focus of much interest once the Freedom of Information Act comes into force on January 1 2005. This article looks at the impact of FOI on companies contracting with public authorities

The controversial ban on transfers of data to unsafe jurisdictions has been an ongoing problem for many international organisations since the 1995 data protection directive was adopted. However, the concept of binding corporate rules is emerging as a promising solution to this problem and has become one of the hottest topics in today’s EU data protection world. Eduardo Ustaran, Editor of Data Protection Law & Policy, explains how this idea works.

Data subjects are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their understanding of their rights under the Data Protection Act. This article sets out some practical advice to data controllers on what to do when responding to a subject access request.

Companies that disclose consumers’ personal information to third parties for use in direct marketing should prepare for the new obligations imposed by California’s direct marketing disclosure statute, which takes effect January 1, 2005. This statute requires a covered company to provide individual California customers, upon request, with certain information about such disclosures. It also requires companies to notify these customers of their ability to request this information, and to provide a means of submitting requests.

The House of Lords recently considered the consolidated cases of “S” and Mr Marper (Regina v. Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (Respondent) ex parte LS and ex parte Marper [2004] UKHL 39). These appeals involved the retention of fingerprints and DNA samples by the South Yorkshire Police of persons suspected of having committed an offence, but subsequently acquitted. This article looks at the reasoning and significance of the House of Lords dismissal of the Appeals.

Nominet is celebrating its success in the Federal Court of Australia in its claim against five respondents for copyright infringement of its Registry and WHOIS Database.