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Private eye

13 November 2015 / Tom Morrison
Issue: 7676 / Categories: Features , Data protection , Freedom of Information
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Tom Morrison returns with a review of the world of information law

It has been a busy year for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), but some significant changes are afoot which makes it unlikely that 2016 will be any quieter.

We started the year with the usual glut of information law-related news including a flurry of enforcement action. This time it was high street shoe retailer Office in the spotlight, having had to enter into an undertaking with the ICO following a hack of Office’s systems which exposed the personal data of over one million of its customers. Contact details and website passwords were held in an unencrypted database on servers which were due to be decommissioned. For businesses this highlights not only the well rehearsed concerns around data security but also the fact that holding onto information for longer than is needed automatically increases risk. For individuals, it is a timely reminder to make sure that you do not use the same password for multiple services otherwise when one is hacked all become vulnerable.

Sadly

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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