content regulation / hate speech / illegal content / immunities / Intellectual Property / Internet intermediaries / notice-and-take down / terrorism

The EU Commission and its official Communication on Online Platforms: is the e-commerce Directive being attacked by the back door?

As you might remember, a draft version of the European Commission’s Communication on Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market was leaked at the end of April. From digesting it at that time, it seemed to be clear that the Commission had taken the view that content regulation should be sectorial and the liability exemptions … Continue reading

big data / Data protection

Businesses engaged in ‘big data’ personal data processing should consider carefully whether they have ‘legitimate interests’ grounds to justify their activities, says ICO

How exactly should data controllers carry out a ‘balance of interests’ test between their interests and the interests of data subjects? The application of data protection rules to big data technologies raises a number of legal and compliance issues, some of which I highlighted in my recent post about the latest comments from the Information … Continue reading

Data protection / Google / Internet intermediaries / Privacy

Google signs formal undertakings committing it to change its privacy policy for UK online users

‘The hits keep on rolling when you’re Google…’ As previously reported in this blog here and here, Google is rarely out of the headlines when it comes to the daily workloads of European data protection agencies (DPAs). The most recent story is the news from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) that Google has signed … Continue reading

Google / Internet intermediaries / Right to be forgotten

Google settles ‘right to be forgotten’ case with UK business man and comes under pressure from Europe to implement global de-listing

Google probably wishes it could be forgotten as the remit of its legal obligations continues to make headlines The press has been full of news this year about the deluge of requests sent to Google following the Court of the Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’s ruling in May, which confirmed the right of individuals … Continue reading

Data protection / Freedom of information / Privacy / Right to be forgotten

The First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) refuses to disclose the names of 4 police officers involved in a ‘car selling-scam’… and a few considerations about the right to be forgotten

Some of the most vocal criticisms of the right to be forgotten as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its famous case decided on 13 May 2014 come from Internet giants. The Wikimedia foundation and the Wikipedia founder himself are no exception. “This right to be forgotten is the idea … Continue reading