Surveillance
Accountability for algorithms
Sometimes it is hard to remember that law goes on being made during pandemics, just as it does during wars and in economic crises. The laws made now whilst we battle with the ethical and economic impact of possible further lock-downs and social distancing measures, is intended to regulate future activities, even if we can’t […]
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Smart doorbells: data protection concerns
As more and more everyday products are produced with internet connectivity – whether it actually improves functionality or is more of a gimmick – there are increased concerns regarding cybersecurity and data protection. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to both these WiFi-enabled goods and the wider concept of having everything connected to the internet […]
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UK mass surveillance breaches the ECHR
In the wake of the 2013 Edward Snowden affair, in which a former contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA) revealed that mass surveillance programmes were being operated by the UK and US intelligence services, a collection of journalists and human rights organisations brought a case against the UK government, challenging the bulk interception of […]
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Employee monitoring software: is it legal?
For most law firms time recording constructs and the idea of annual billable hours have always meant that “productivity” could be monitored. Any of the managing partner’s typical calls to action of “you’re not billing enough” or “your time recording is down” can be justified where fee-earners have to account for every minute. Even if […]
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Facial recognition in public spaces
Live facial recognition technology or automatic facial recognition (AFR) adds another dimension to CCTV monitoring and other surveillance methods. Using biometrics (certain physical and physiological features), the technology can map facial features to identify particular individuals by matching these with a database of known faces. This technology has been in use for some years by […]
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Privacy in the workplace … or not?
The debate around workplace monitoring of employees has rumbled on for many years now; employers argue that they are entitled to analyse how their staff spend their working day whilst employees claim it impacts upon their privacy. In 2017 the European Court of Human Rights held, in the case of Bărbulescu v Romania, that the […]
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Content versus metadata
The contest at the heart of the Investigatory Powers Act After more scrutiny than probably any other piece of legislation in recent memory, the Investigatory Powers Bill received Royal Assent in November. Notwithstanding the amount of Parliamentary time spent on the 300 pages of powers and safeguards, underpinning the Act are some complex and abstractly […]
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