5 12 December 2008

News:

The UK Government could be forced to remove over 850,000 DNA profiles from the National DNA Database, after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that retention of samples from acquitted criminal suspects breached their right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights).

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) clarified that the UK Government will not introduce mandatory security breach notification in its Response to the Data Sharing Review Report, issued on 24 November. It said the Government is 'committed to developing an approach that tackles the problems encountered in the US [concerning data breach notification legislation] and is more suitable for the needs of robust data protection in the UK'.

DataGuidance launched a 'US Data Breach At A Glance Advisory Service' on 1 December, which allows users to check all the key data breach regulations for all US States at a single glance.

Features:

Thinking the unthinkable became a mantra of the Labour government in the early days of Tony Blair's mandate. This was a slogan for political creativity aimed at conveying the message that good outcomes could be achieved by simply moving away from conventional ways of doing things. Eventually, some of the most revolutionary ideas of the time - from giving the Bank of England independence to making devolution viable - became part of everyday life and the unthinkable became, once again, unthinkable. However, every now and then, political and legislative creativity resurfaces in a way that makes one wonder why no one had come up with those ideas before.

Amendments to Macedonia's Law on Personal Data Protection entered into force in August 2008. In this article, the Directorate for Personal Data Protection outlines the new powers it has been granted, the fines it now can issue for non-compliance and new regulations on the use of video surveillance.

Two recent cases involving comments made within 'private' groups on social networking sites have resulted in the dismissal of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic employees. Margaret Davis, head of the employment practice at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, examines some of the difficulties that have arisen through employee use of electronic communications.

Home Office guidance, endorsed by the Information Commissioner's Office, provides advice on how public authorities should comply with the Serious Crime Act 2007, which amends the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) to cover public authorities' processing of sensitive personal data. Rafi Azim-Khan and Steven Farmer, of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, examine the guidance's advice for both public authorities and anti-fraud organisations, and underline the importance of compliance with the DPA, now that section 55A includes unlimited fines for non-compliance.

The Italian authority for data protection has issued a code of conduct and good practice for the processing of personal data by lawyers and private investigators carrying out criminal defence investigations. Guido Camera, a Criminal Lawyer with Studio Avvocato Camera, analyses the code and its purpose of bringing the issue of privacy to the attention of criminal proceeding operators.

The US Broadband Data Improvement Act was designed to address weak spots in the US' broadband penetration by requiring broadband internet service providers (ISPs) to provide more information about use of their services. Yaron Dori and Lindsey Tonsager, of Covington & Burling LLP, highlight the data protection issues this raises, as well as concerns that it could cause federal agencies to impose data filing requirements on ISPs.

Ireland's Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform recently announced that a Data Protection Review Group would be reviewing Irish data protection legislation following a series of high profile data breaches. Deirdre Kilroy, Head of Intellectual Property and Technology at LK Shields Solicitors, examines the reasons for the review and difficulties concerning transposition of the Data Retention Directive.