Following the announcement on 22 May 2024 of the snap General Election to take place on 04 July 2024, Parliament has been prorogued with effect from 24 May 2024 (meaning Parliamentary business is suspended thereafter) and will be dissolved with effect from 30 May 2024. The brief period between the announcement of the election and prorogation is known as wash up, when political parties must negotiate to pass outstanding Bills, or parts of them, or Bills fall. Prorogation also bring an end to the work of the various Parliamentary Committees. Handley Gill’s consultants consider which Bills have been washed up and which have fallen in the context of cyber security, data protection, online safety, artificial intelligence (AI), digital markets, content regulation, reputation management, open justice, access to information, human rights and ESG, as well as the work of Parliamentary Committees which were either rushed out or dropped.

Nicola Cain5 June 2024General Election 2024, GE2024, Data Protection, Personal Data, Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, Media Bill, Media Act 2024, Digital Markets Competition & Consumers Bill, Digital Markets Competition & Consumers Act 2024, Human Rights, Duty of Candour, Joint Committee on Human Rights, Education Committee, Commons Education Committee, Screentime impact on education & wellbeing, Science Innovation & Technology Committee, House of Commons Science Innovation & Technology Committee, Artificial Intelligence, AI, AI Governance, Governance of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill, SLAPPs, Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill, Criminal Justice Bill, European Affairs Committee, UK-EU Data Adequacy, Adequacy Decision, Cyber Security, Information Security, Cyber Resilience, Cyber resilience of the UK's critical national infrastructure (CNI), Commons Women & Equalities Committee, Non-consensual intimate image abuse, Revenge porn, Online Safety, Online Harms, DPDI Bill, OFCOM, Competition and Markets Authority, CMA, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation, Data Protection Reform, UK GDPR, Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, Article 17 UK GDPR, Article 17 GDPR, Right to Erasure, Right to be ForgottenComment

AI regulation in the UK: in out in out shake it all about

Handley Gill’s consultants analyse the Government’s response to its consultation on the White Paper ‘A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation’, published on 06 February 2024, and its implications for AI developers and UK creators, business and the public, identifying the steps the Government has committed to take.

Nicola Cain6 February 2024AI, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill, A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, Department for Science Innovation & Technology, AI Governance, AI Regulation, AI Risk, AI Risk Assessment, AI Safety, EU AI Act, AI Act, AI Regulation White Paper, House of Lords Communications & Digital Committee, Large Language Models & Generative AI, Large Language Models, LLMs, Generative AI, Ofcom, Information Commissioner's Office, Information Commissioner, ICO, EHRC, Equality and Human Rights Commission, CMA, Competition & Markets Authority, Digital Markets Competition & Consumers Bill, Data Protection & Digital Information Bill, DPDI Bill, Data Protection, Discrimination, Bias, Cyber Security, Ofsted, Office for Product Safety & Standards, AI Regulatory Principles, 5 AI Regulatory Principles, Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, CDEI, Responsible Technology Adoption Unit, Employment Law, HR, Human Resources, Recruitment, Automated Processing, Automated Decision Making, Safety Security & Robustness, Appropriate transparency and explainability, Fairness, Accountability & Governance, Contestability and redress, Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Rights, IPR, Misinformation, Disinformation, Online Safety Act 2023, AI Management Essentials Scheme, AI Security, AI Safety Institute, Human Rights, Human Rights Act 1998Comment

Let the cookie crumble…

As the Information Commissioner warns websites they have 30 days to achieve cookie compliance or face regulatory enforcement action, Handley Gill’s specialist data protection consultants advise on how to ensure that the Information Commissioner’s appetite for enforcing cookie compliance under PECR isn’t a recipe for disaster for your organisation. While amending your cookie banner is a bitter pill to swallow, your website won’t be toast and you can avoid having to eat humble pie.

Nicola Cain11 December 2023Data Protection, Personal Data, UK GDPR, UK GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION, PECR, Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, SI 2003/2426, Cookies, Third Party Cookies, Cookie Consent, Consent, First Party Cookies, Session Cookies, Persistent Cookies, Cookie Banner, Cookie Notice, Cookie Policy, Online Tracking, Tracking Technologies, Tracking Pixels, Data Protection & Digital Information (No.2) Bill, Data Protection & Digital Information Bill, Bill 001 2023-24, Bill 265 2022-23, Bill 314 2022-23, HL Bill 30, Device Fingerprinting, Strictly Necessary Cookies, Online Advertising, Personalised Advertising, Behavioural Advertising, Data Regulation, Data enforcement, Information Commissioner, ePrivacy Directive, Directive 2002/58/EC, GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation 6 Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, Regulation 6 PECR, Article 7 GDPR, Article 7 General Data Protection Regulation, Recital 32 GDPR, Recital 32 General Data Protection Regulation, Article 7 UK GDPR, Recital 32 UK GDPR, Dark Patterns, Online Choice Architecture, CMA, Competition & Markets Authority, OCA, DRCF, Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum, Article 4(11) GDPR, Article 4(11) UK GDPR, Privacy by Design, Article 25 UK GDPR, Article 25 GDPRComment

Licence to hack?

Home Office Minister Lord Sharpe has confirmed that, following intensive lobbying by pockets of the cyber security industry, the government intends to pursue the introduction of a statutory public interest defence to the offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (‘CMA’). Handley Gill Limited’s consultants consider the implications for cyber resilience, the protection of personal data and IP, and the ability of law enforcement to prosecute offences.

Nicola Cain4 July 2023Cyber Security, Cyber Resilience, Hack, Hacking, Computer Misuse Act 1990, CMA, CMA 1990, CMA offence, Home Office, Lord Sharpe, Lord Clement-Jones, Sir Patrick Vallance, Pro-Innovation Regulation for Digital Technologies Review, Data extraction, Public Interest, Public Interest Defence, Computer Misuse Act 1990 Call for Information, Computer Misuse Act 1990 Consultation, CMA working group, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, CFAA, Department of Justice, US DoJ, Good-faith security activity, Legitimate cyber security activity, Section 170 Data Protection Act 2018, s.170 Data Protection Act 2018, S.170(2)(c) Data Protection Act 2018, S.170 DPA 2018, Unlawful obtaining of personal data, Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Section 107 Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, S.107 Copyright Designs & Patents Act 1988, S.107 CDPA 1988, Copyright, Consultation Response, Statutory defence, Hansard Volume 831 Column 993 03 July 2023, Computer Misuse Act 1990 defence, CMA defenceComment

What's missing from the Computer Misuse Act 1990?

Handley Gill Limited’s consultants respond to the Home Office consultation on proposals to revise the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to introduce additional powers for law enforcement bodies to takedown and seize domains and IP addresses and, require the preservation of data, as well as to introduce new offences and stronger sentencing for the copying of data. We also call for stronger cyber resilience legislation, through the introduction of minimum cyber security standards, while rejecting lobbying efforts for a blanket public interest defence to CMA offences. Finally, we advocate for stronger extra-territoriality of CMA offences and stronger sentencing powers and associated guidance.

Nicola Cain10 April 2023Cyber Security, Cyber Resilience, Computer Misuse Act 1990, CMA, CMA 1990, Law Enforcement, Domain name registrars, Domain name registries, Internet Service Providers, ISPs, Hosting providers, Web hosts, Consultation, Consultation Response, Public Interest, Public Interest Defence, CyberUp campaign, Sir Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Adviser, HM Treasury, Home Office, Pro-Innovation Regulation for Digital Technologies Review, Computer Misuse Act 1990 Call for Information, Computer Misuse Act 1990 Consultation, Domain name takedown and seizure, IP address take down and seizure, Online intermediaries, Domain name and IP address takedown and seizure, Data preservation, Data copying, Crown Prosecution Service, CPS, Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2002, Hacking, Proposal for legislation to improve the UK's cyber resilience, DSIT, Department for Science Technology & Innovation, Copyright, Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, CDPA 1988, s107 Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Section 107 Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Section 170(1)(a) Data Protection Act 2018, Personal Data, Commercial Data, s170(1)(a) Data Protection Act 2018, Information Commissioner, Information Commissioner's Office, ICO, Data Breach, Data Protection, Data Protection Offences, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property OffencesComment

HM Coroner vs the Online Safety Bill

As the deadline approaches for the government and social media platforms to respond to HM Coroner’s recommendations in the Prevention of Future Deaths report following the Molly Russell inquest verdict, Handley Gill considers how the recommendations stack up against the provisions of the Online Safety Bill.

Nicola Cain29 November 2022Online Safety, Online Harms, ONLINE SAFETY BILL, Bill 285 2021-22, Bill 004 2022-23, Bill 121 2022-23, eSafety, Content Moderation, Intermediary Liability, Social Media, Molly Russell, Molly Russell Inquest, Regulation 28 Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, Regulation 29 Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, Schedule 5 paragraph 7 Coroners and Justice Act 2009, HM Coroner, Chief Coroner, Ofcom, Roadmap to Regulation, Online Safety Regulator, Online Harms Regulator, UK GDPR, UK General Data Protection Regulation, Data Protection Act 2018, DPA 2018, Age Verification, Children’s Risk Assessment, Safety duties protecting children, Harmful content, Primary priority content that is harmful to children, Self-Harm, Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum, DRCF, CMA, Competition & Markets Authority, Information Commissioner, ICO, FCA, Financial Conduct Authority, Advertising, Algorithm, Algorithmic Accountability, Algorithmic TransparencyComment