Viewpoints - Harbottle and Lewis

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29 March 2023

Interesting times ahead for privacy law reform in Australia

On 16 February 2023 the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department released its Privacy Act Review Report 2022 (the “Report”) on Australia’s privacy laws. The review covered a wide range of areas largely relating to data protection issues but also one of the…

29 March 2023

The Law Commission’s report on surrogacy is a step in the right direction

The long awaited report of the Law Commission on the surrogacy laws in England and Wales (alongside the Scottish Law Commission) was published yesterday. The report has made some positive recommendations which will primarily affect those undergoing surrogacy in the…

29 March 2023

The UK’s “Draft Media Bill” aims to ensure that UK broadcasters remain globally competitive

With thanks in no small part to the series of Covid-19 lockdowns across the UK from 2020-2021, the stratospheric rise of video-on-demand platforms (VoDs) over the last decade has been equally impressive as it was inevitable. According to the UK’s…

16 March 2023

Navigating the grey areas of AI ethics: ICO’s updated guidance provides clarity on utilising AI

The UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner, has updated its guidance on Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection in response to requests from the UK industry to provide clearer guidelines on AI and how to adopt new technologies. The updated…

03 March 2023

EDPB releases lukewarm opinion on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has released its opinion on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF). The draft decision on the DPF, which is currently undergoing the legislative process at the EU level, aims to provide an adequate standard…

22 February 2023

European Parliament issues negative opinion on the EU-US data transfer arrangement

The European Parliament LIBE Committee has urged the European Commission not to issue an adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the “Framework”) – which would allow the free flow of personal data between the EU and US. An…

17 February 2023

ICO focusses on child protection in latest guidance to the games industry

The ICO has issued a number of recommendations to game developers to protect children and to ensure compliance with the Children’s Code. Key highlights are: developers must be able to identify if their users are under 18 years old and…

14 February 2023

Service of Court documents via NFTs – no longer a novelty

Traditionally, service of Court documents in English proceedings has taken place by non-electronic means such as post or personal delivery, unless the receiving party has confirmed they are willing to accept service by fax or email. However, particularly in cases…

06 February 2023

High Court claim involving claimed Bitcoin creator – a significant Court of Appeal judgment

There has been a significant judgment in the Tulip Trading case, involving claimed Bitcoin creator Dr Craig Wright, on which we previously reported. Tulip, ultimately owned by Dr Craig Wright and his family, alleged that open-source software developers who worked…

06 January 2023

Court of Appeal confirms fraud-based claims released by settlement agreement

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that claims in fraud, dishonesty and conspiracy had been released by the parties’ settlement agreement, even though the release did not expressly mention such claims. The Court agreed that the usual principles of contractual…