Insights

TalkTalk and BA Data Breaches – Aftershocks!

2nd February 2021
Data Protection, Guevara Leacock, Insights, Julian Hayes, News & Insights
The dust has not yet settled on the Information Commissioner’s fine imposed on British Airways (BA) in October 2020, but the company now faces the largest group claim over a data breach in the UK’s history. A similar claim has been brought against TalkTalk following a 2014/15 cyber-attack on the telecoms giant, though in that case far fewer people were affected. With not only hefty regulatory fines and reputational damage but also the threat of expensive civil litigation for data breaches, the pressure is on for data controllers and processors to check they are doing enough to protect their customers personal data.

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Unlawful killing following Maughan – new guidance issued by the Chief Coroner

25th January 2021
Corporate Manslaughter, Insights, News & Insights, Richard Reichman
Overview

In the case of R (on the application of Maughan) (Appellant) v Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire (Respondent) [2020] UKSC 46, the Supreme Court found, by a majority of three to two, that all conclusions in coronial inquests, including unlawful killing and suicide, whether short form or narrative, are to be determined on the civil standard of proof i.e. ‘on the balance of probabilities’.

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Protecting the protectors: Calls for emergency legislation to prevent the prosecution of healthcare professionals when treating COVID-19 patients 

20th January 2021
David Hardstaff, Insights, Medical and Dental, News & Insights
BCL Solicitors Associate David Hardstaff, a specialist in professional discipline and criminal litigation, discusses recent calls for emergency legislation to protect healthcare professionals from prosecution arising from incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Licence to kill – will undercover criminal activity be lawful for all purposes?

18th January 2021
Andrew Watson, Insights, News & Insights
The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill (‘the Bill’)[1] is making its way through Parliament and is currently at the Report Stage of the House of Lords.[2] If enacted, the Bill will provide the statutory framework for certain public authorities to a) authorise a Covert Human Intelligence Source (‘CHIS’) and b) authorise a CHIS to commit what would otherwise be criminal conduct. Owing to its potential scope, the Bill has come under fire from several political parties and campaign groups, which described the Bill as ‘a licence for government agencies to authorise torture and murder.’[3] The Government meanwhile has stated that a ‘CHIS will never be given unlimited authority to commit any and all crimes.’[4] So why is this happening now and what does this mean?

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£18.4 million Marriott International GDPR fine announced by ICO; what did we learn?

11th November 2020
Data Protection, Guevara Leacock, Insights, Michael Drury, News & Insights
On October 30th, 2020, The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) announced its fine of £18.4 million issued to Marriott International, Inc., (“Marriott”) for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). This is a significant decrease from the proposed fine of £99.2 million announced by the ICO in July 2019 (see our previous article here) against the background of Marriott’s security breach reported to have lasted some four years between 2014 to 2018, with the fine relating to the breach only from the point at which the GDPR came into force in May 2018. It is the second largest GDPR fine levied by the regulator thus far, behind that imposed on British Airways. To date, Marriott has not admitted liability for the breach, but the major international hotel operator has indicated that it does not plan to appeal the decision.

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