2 3 March 2005

News:

The Information Commissioner’s successful prosecution of a Rochdale solicitor for failing to notify under the Data Protection Act 1998 ‘should remind solicitors and other organisations of their responsibilities under the Act’ said Information Commissioner Richard Thomas.

The transfer of responsibility for EU data protection policy from the Internal Market Directorate General to Justice, Freedom and Security has caused concern among data protection experts.

Data Protection Law & Policy is launching two Spring events focussed on addressing key issues faced by data protection professionals.

Features:

The Do Not Disturb door sign at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, where the annual summit of the International Association of Privacy Professionals was held this year, stated “Only a goldfish can live without privacy”. A great sentence that summarises the American approach to this right - privacy is a way of living that applies to everyone in all places and at all times. This was also a perfect reminder of why this event, which finished on 11 March, is so different from European data protection conferences. Numbers aside (believe it or not, there were more than 600 people attending, which comfortably outnumbered the delegates at the Foreign Wars Veterans convention that was also taking place at the hotel), the IAPP gathering is an impressive event eagerly devoted to stressing the vital importance of data protection and privacy rights for business and society.

Since it came fully into force on 1 January 2005, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) has constantly been in the news. Virtually all the coverage given to FOIA has concentrated on newspapers and pressure groups seeking to obtain information on present and past government decisions. However, FOIA is more than merely a weapon to be used by the media against the government; as Mark Bowman, a solicitor at Field Fisher Waterhouse, explains it is also a potentially important business intelligence tool that can be used in a number of ways.

Johnson v MDU

[2004] EWHC 2509 (Ch) 9 November 2004. High Court rules on disclosure in data protection claim and finds that refusal under DPA does not preclude entitlement under civil procedures

Data protection legislation is difficult enough, but when you are the person responsible for group privacy & data protection at one of the largest oil companies in the world, the job is tanker-sized. Mark Keddie, Compliance Manager of BP Plc, explains how he wins corporate focus on data protection in a business awash with regulatory challenges.

The Data Protection expert group of the European Commission, the so-called Group 29, recently released a working document on RFID technology and privacy issues. Ewout Keuleers, attorney at the Bar of Brussels and senior researcher at the Centre of Computer and Law, University of Namur, Belgium examines the working party’s findings.

In the last year a growing number of sporting organisations have signed Memorandum of Agreement with Betfair for the exchange of data about unusual betting patterns. Stewart Room, Chair of the National Association of Data Protection Officers, looks at the data protection issues that arise in the investigation of corruption in sport.