Care homes take heed: if you have failed to pay the ICO data protection fee you could be breaking the law

The General Data Protection Regulation (known to everyone as the GDPR) is probably the most famous piece of legislation to come from the EU. It was and is incredibly ambitious in its scope, and shapes the way we engage with organisations both online and in the real world. When the UK formally withdrew from the EU, GDPR became retained EU law and continued to apply as before. The government have recently announced that they want to reform data protection legislation, but substantial deregulation might be an unrealistic ambition.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced sports clubs, schools, universities and charities to rapidly change their approaches to coaching, teaching and support work. The regulations on social distancing have forced organisations to innovate; services which had previously been offered mostly or wholly in person were rapidly shifted online during “lockdown 1” and will return online at least for the duration of “lockdown 3”.  If the vaccine rollout has the desired effect there will no doubt be some return to “traditional” methods, but it seems very unlikely that the changes brought about by the pandemic will be completely reversed.  In this blog, Claire Parry from Kingsley Napley’s Regulatory team and Fred Allen from the Public Law team look at the challenges organisations face engaging with children online.

It is now more than two years since the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR came into force, significantly increasing the enforcement powers of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). With the passing of the Act, the ICO gained the power to issue fines amounting to millions of pounds and increased powers to bring criminal prosecutions against organisations who fail to comply with the data protection regime.

In late April we blogged about the NHSX developing a contact tracing app to help stop the spread of coronavirus and highlighted some of the privacy concerns that will need to be considered in the course of its development. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the app is still yet to be released nationwide, although a beta version is being trialled on the Isle of Wight and development continues. In this blog we provide an update on the proposed functionality of the app and the privacy issues caused by that functionality which are delaying its release.

Dominic Raab announced last week that the current UK lockdown would last for at least another three weeks. These restrictions are unlikely to be relaxed until a large scale plan is in place to track and restrict the spread of the virus. Part of this plan will involve the use of the NHS “contact tracing” app, which we have been told is in an advanced stage of development.

On 23 May 2020, it will be two years since the Data Protection Act 2018 came in to force. The Act was brought in to compliment and supplement GDPR, and significantly increased the ICO’s enforcement powers. In the build-up to its commencement, there was a flurry of speculation about how these new powers would be used. We now look at the how the ICO has used its enforcements powers in 2019 and highlights key considerations for businesses and organisations in 2020.

The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has today (18 December 2019) given the tech sector an early Christmas present by publishing its interim report on its market study, commenced earlier this year, into online platforms and digital advertising.

At the time of writing, it is possible that the UK could exit the EU on 31 October 2019 (“exit date”) without a deal which means immediately leaving EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice without an agreement over what happens next.

Monday night’s marathon session in Parliament saw a number of issues debated into the small hours and further defeats for the government. While many raised important political and legal issues, one of particular interest to information lawyers, followers of Parliamentary procedure and journalists alike was the endorsement of a “Humble Address” motion brought by former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve.

The Law Commission has this week made an important intervention in the world of anti-money laundering with its report on the Suspicious Activity Report (SARs) regime, including an analysis of weaknesses of the current system and a series of recommendations to make things streamlined, clearer and above all more workable

The Court of Appeal’s judgement in Forse & ors v Secarma Ltd & ors is an important case on springboard injunction applications in employee competition and team move cases. It is also a prime example of how WhatsApp messages can provide crucial evidence in such cases.

Any individual dissatisfied with the speed or content of an organisation’s response to a SAR will find it quick and easy to complain to your organisation or the ICO. This guide is intended to make responding to SARs as straightforward as possible.

Getting your black letter law data protection specialists to join your post-it wielding innovators on their bean bags might be challenging but it is important. Perhaps try breaking the ice with some table tennis and piano-led house music (a scientifically proven method).  

EU leaders are due to meet today (1700 GMT) for an emergency summit dedicated to Brexit at which it is rumoured that they will grant an extension to the UK’s departure from the EU.  The infographic below sets out the possible Brexit options and what this might mean for UK data protection law. 

Focussing upon US companies considering their privacy policies and procedures in Silicon Valley and beyond, in this blog we consider the geographic scope of GDPR and the core business functions it impacts upon.

On 20 December 2018, the US Department of Commerce issued updated standards of compliance for participants in the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework (“Privacy Shield”) to continue receiving personal data from the UK in reliance on the Privacy Shield after Brexit (which is due to take place on 29 March 2019). By way of a reminder, Privacy Shield is a framework for protecting the fundamental rights of anyone in the EU whose personal data is transferred to the United States for commercial purposes.

With the UK due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, UK Parliament is working towards creating new regulations to ensure that the UK’s data protection standards will be equivalent to EU law post-Brexit. The UK would use this as the basis for securing an adequacy decision from the European Commission meaning that our legal framework is deemed to provide adequate protection for individuals’ rights and freedoms over their personal data. As discussed in our previous blog, this would facilitate cross-border transfers of personal data and business continuity as the UK aims to trade with the single market on equal terms.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has commenced formal enforcement action against care homes that have failed to pay the data protection fee.

International transfers of personal data are instantaneous and constant. Everyday business functions such as uploading data files to the cloud or sending emails potentially involve transferring personal data across international borders. This is particularly relevant in today’s global economy where business functions are often outsourced overseas for operational and cost efficiencies.

The High Court has held that suspicious activity reports may amount to “personal data” for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA 1998”) and are potentially disclosable following a subject access request.