5 5 May 2008

News:

The Italian data protection and privacy regulator, the Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali, has suspended a database containing salary details for Italian taxpayers for 2005, however warned that preventing publication of such personal details after they have been published on the internet is 'ungovernable'.

A UK Court of Appeal ruling over pictures taken of Harry Potter author, JK Rowling's son, has created enhanced privacy rights for celebrities' children.

Finland's government has proposed amendments to the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Electronic Communications (516/2004) that would allow employers to process email and internet browsing information of employees using work computers, in cases such as where malpractice is suspected.

Features:

Welcome to an uncertain world. In case you hadn't noticed, there is a panicky mood in the air and that dotcom crash feeling is all over us again. Whether we are facing a real crisis or a perceived one is up for debate and depends on who you listen to, but the reality is that all sorts of organisations - private and public, big and small - seem to be preparing themselves for a rough economic ride. The practical effect of this is that budgets get tighter and that affects everyone, from training and business development to legal and compliance. Hence, a consequence that most privacy professionals are enduring at the moment is that they need to justify their goals, plans and expenditure as never before.

Despite significant interest from multinationals in the use of Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) to transfer data outside the European Economic Area, few authorisations by data protection authorities for BCR applications have, to date, been granted. Sian Rudgard, a Solicitor at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, examines recent initiatives by the Article 29 Working Party aimed at improving the overall application and authorisation process to make BCRs the global solution for multinational companies.

A Belgian Justice of the Peace recently held that a private parking management company had breached Belgium's 1992 Data Protection Law by illegally accessing a central vehicle database. Guillaume Couneson, an Associate with Linklaters, examines the ruling, including explaining how Belgian law only allows local authorities access to that database for payment of 'fines', not 'payment for certain services'.

The launch by advertising technology company, Phorm, of a new tool which tracks users' search behaviour on the internet and allows companies to target specific advertising to those users has generated significant controversy and debate. Nick Graham and Helen Anderson of Denton Wilde Sapte LLP examine the technology, assess its legal position under UK data protection and privacy laws and consider its wider implications for targeted advertising models.

It is expected that the European Commission will soon deliver its proposed policy framework on the future of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies, following the recent closure of a public consultation. Oliver Bray and Simon Griffiths, of Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP, examine the main features of the Commission's draft Recommendation and how it is keen to resolve the privacy concerns raised by bodies such as the Article 29 Working Party in order to advance the use of RFID to levels seen in other jurisdictions.

With the sharing of personal information in the UK currently being reviewed, Douwe Korff, Professor of international law at London Metropolitan University, argues that future UK regulation should accord with European legal principles. Korff highlights three examples which illustrate the conflict between the UK's use of broadly defined purposes when processing personal data and Europe's narrow 'specific' purpose definitions, which are most keenly felt in the area of concern highlighted in the UK review.

Here's an alarming fact. Criminals in today's Britain need to be keenly aware of CCTV, but the way the law stands, companies who install and operate systems might be running the risk of becoming criminals themselves!