17 January 2018
Articles of Association, Shareholders’ Agreements and Investors’ Agreements – what’s the difference?
Company jargon can be intimidating and confusing. However, once you get to terms with the key terminology and concepts of company law, it all becomes a lot more digestible. If you’re planning to set up your own company, or considering investing for the first time, this blog should help you get your head around some of the main company documents you’re likely to come across during the process.
11 January 2018
Social Media Giants vs Children – the truth behind social media contracts
Increasingly, facts and figures about the negative effects of social media are being reported in the press. Recent statistics have shown that three-quarters of children aged 10-12 already have social media accounts, and that the amount of time children aged 12-15 spend online has more than doubled in a decade. Just last week, the Children’s Commissioner announced that schools should be playing a bigger role in preparing children for social media’s “emotional demands”. Such reports are understandably very concerning, and raise questions about the morality of social media giants benefiting at the expense of the emotional wellbeing of children. However, thought should also be given to the legal aspect of these relationships, and in particular, the terms and conditions that children are signing up to when creating social media accounts.
15 December 2017
An introduction to contracts between data controllers and data processors under the General Data Protection Regulation
Under the GDPR, when a ‘data controller’ engages a ‘data processor’, the two parties must enter in to a written contract. Article 28 of the GDPR sets out what specific terms, as a minimum, must be included in such contracts. Such terms are required to ensure that the processor complies with the GDPR when processing the personal data in possession of the controller. Article 28 is a new requirement which did not exist under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “DPA”), meaning that controllers who are currently compliant with the DPA will not necessarily have included these provisions in their processor contracts.
28 November 2017
The real impact of the GDPR… new notification obligations
To date, GDPR headlines have mainly focused on the threat of heavy fines. However, the Information Commissioner’s Office (the ‘ICO’) has made it clear that issuing fines has always been, and will continue to be under the GDPR, a last resort. Rather, the most immediate impact of the GDPR following a data breach is the new obligation under Article 29 to notify both the ICO and those individual data subjects affected by data breaches. These individuals are most likely to be the clients, customers, suppliers and other contacts upon which your organisation relies and, following any significant data breach, notification may lead to that breach becoming public.
27 November 2017
What is a term sheet and why is it important?
If you are a founder, entrepreneur or a potential investor, at some stage you are likely to encounter a term sheet. So, what are term sheets actually for and what issues do you need to consider?