Our information and privacy work has achieved significant successes and broken new ground. This work has three main components:
Misuse of Data
Personal information about us is held by a large number of public and private bodies. Considerable damage can result if it is not handled correctly.
We act for clients who may have been affected by the misuse of their data held by public authorities and corporations.
This includes claims for compensation for distress, defamation, and financial losses arising from misuse or incorrect recording of personal data.
We also have experience of securing injunctions to prevent the misuse of information and the removal of information which is false.
For example, we have represented clients in the following cases:
- A challenge to the blanket seizure of, and extraction of data from, Migrants’ mobile phones (R (HM and MA and KH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department) and subsequent claims for damages.
- Acting for a parent who discovered that false information about him had been disseminated by a social services authority, to rectify that error and to secure redress for the damage caused by these communications.
- Acting for an individual who lost their job because of an inaccurate disclosure of information by the police to his employer, securing for him both the removal of the inaccurate information and substantial damages for distress and financial loses.
- Acting for an asylum seeker whose confidential information about his persecution in his country of origin was shared with those same authorities, thus increasing the risk to him and his family.
- Acting for persons wrongfully referred under the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism programme (see e.g. here and here), to secure the deletion of their information from police and other public authority databases.
- Acting for a human rights campaigner who was wrongfully refused security accreditation for a political conference by the police.
Access to Data and Transparency
We represent individuals and non-governmental organisations in legal challenges seeking transparency. Often our clients need to obtain this information for wider campaigning or reporting purposes, or to fulfil their function as non-governmental organisations informing the public about particular areas.
In the UK, this often concerns requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Refused requests can be appealed to the Information Commissioner and then to the Information Tribunal.
An entitlement to access accurate and comprehensive information is also recognised by the common law, including where affected individuals have a legitimate expectation to information held by public bodies and in the conduct of government consultations.
For example, we have represented clients in the following cases:
- The release of information regarding private sector operators of immigration detention centres in the UK, including the fact that incidents of self-harm leading to death incurred a mere £10,000 penalty (Information Commissioner v Home Office & Miller).
- Access to information in relation to UK use of armed drones, including the first cross-examination of a UK armed drone pilot (Cole v Information Commissioner & MoD).
- The release of further information regarding historical activities of the UK Foreign Office in relation to Bahrain (Jones v Information Commissioner & FCO).
Right to Privacy
We work with individuals and NGOs in securing accountability for unlawful surveillance activities and in challenging the legal frameworks that have permitted them. We advise on the domestic, human rights and EU law in this area, including the requirements of data protection law.
For example, we have represented clients in the following cases:
- The landmark challenge to mass surveillance in light of the Edward Snowden disclosures (Big Brother Watch, Open Rights Group, English PEN & Constanze Kurz v United Kingdom).
- A challenge to the blanket seizure of, and extraction of data from, Migrants’ mobile phones (R (HM and MA and KH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department) and subsequent claims for damages and deletion of data.
- A landmark judgment on the UK’s data retention legislation (requiring telecommunications providers to retain users’ data).
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