Search results : 978

On 29 September 2017, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the claim of the telecom company Pretium to oblige the broadcaster Tros to hand over unedited hidden camera footage would be an impermissible restriction on the right to freedom of speech (see IRIS 2015-7/23). The decision relates to the question of the extent to which hidden camera footage falls within the scope of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and whether an order to hand over audiovisual material may be rejected if the desired evidence can be obtained by other means. In 2008, Tros aired an episode of the...

The Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland (DPC) has been granted a referral by the Irish High Court to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine the validity of three decisions of the Europe Commission insofar as they apply to data transfers from the European Economic area (the EEA) to the United States. The referral was granted in the proceedings by the DPC against Facebook Ireland Ltd. and Austrian lawyer Maximilian Schrems. The case was grounded in a complaint made by Mr Schrems in 2013 about the transfer of his personal data by Facebook Ireland Limited (Facebook) outside...

The UK Government has introduced a Data Protection Bill in the House of Lords, which should complete its passage through Parliament and become law next year. The Bill is intended to implement a commitment in the 2017 Conservative Party manifesto to replace the current data protection laws (which date back to 1998, see IRIS 1998-8/21) to make them suitable for the digital age with ever increasing amounts of personal data being processed. The intention is also to update the law to comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) (GDPR); after Brexit the GDPR will be retained as part...

On 31 July 2017, the UK Court of Appeal issued an important judgment on the terms of a “Tomlin Order” preventing the publication of certain facts, and held that the grant of an injunction and an inquiry as to damages was not a disproportionate restriction on the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). During 2012 and 2013, a Greek language newspaper, Demokratia, published articles concerning a businessman, Mr Sabby Mionis, suggesting he was evading tax by holding funds in a Swiss bank. The former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde...

On 29 September 2017, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Recommendation on Big Data for culture, literacy and democracy. The Recommendation provides comprehensive guidelines on how to address the implications of citizens’ participation in and access to digital culture. In its Recommendation, the Committee of Ministers encourages member States to engage in identifying challenges and opportunities related to “Big Data” in the digital cultural field, with “Big Data” being defined as the growing technological ability to collect, process and extract new and predictive knowledge...