Google Street View launched in Ireland
Google has launched its Street View service in Ireland allowing individuals to locate and view cities, towns and neighbourhoods. Prior to the launch, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner worked with Google to identify and resolve potential privacy concerns. The Street View technology automatically blurs out faces and licence plate numbers of cars. If the blurring is inadequate or an individual wishes for the image to be removed in its entirety, the “report a problem” button can be used to contact the Google team. Any individual having difficulty in progressing a query can raise the matter directly with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
Germany May Prevent Employers Conducting Facebook Searches
Germany is considering introducing a new law which would prevent employers from conducting background checks against prospective employees on social networking sites. However, general Internet searches and searches conducted on business orientated sites such as LinkedIn would not be prohibited (provided that the information is not too old or beyond the control of the candidate.) The inappropriate use by employees of social networking sites is now a global issue with which employers have to grapple.
BBC Fails to Obtain Injunction Concerning Identity of “The Stig”
The BBC has unsuccessfully sought an injunction against the publication of the identity of the Stig from Top Gear. The primary factor in refusing to grant the injunction was the fact that a large number of media publications referred to Mr Collins as the Stig which resulted in the information ceasing to have the character of confidential information as it was already in the public domain. Anyone who had an interest in knowing the identity of the Stig was already aware of it at the time the injunction was sought.
When a “Perpetual” Licence does not mean what it says on the Tin
The UK High Court determined that a licence described as “perpetual” may nevertheless be terminated. The Court stated that “perpetual” can carry different shades of meaning, it can mean “never ending” (i.e. incapable of being brought to an end) or “operating without limit of time” (i.e. the licence was of indefinite duration, but subject to contractual provisions governing termination). Although the case was decided upon its particular facts, it illustrates the need for clear and unambiguous drafting of agreements and amendments, particularly regarding related agreements.
Israel to be included in EU List of “Adequate” Data Protection Regimes
Israel will shortly be added to a list of countries deemed to have adequate data protection regimes. The effect of this decision is that Irish businesses will soon be able to transfer personal data to business partners in Israel without needing to sign EU-approved Model Contracts. Israel will join a growing list of counties which have been declared adequate for European data protection law purposes including Argentina, Canada (for certain data), Switzerland, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and the Faroe Islands. With the increased outsourcing of business activities it is likely that data transfers to countries outside of the EEA will remain an important issue for Irish businesses.
Lego lose Application to Trade Mark Red Brick
The EU Court of Justice has ruled that the Lego brick is not registrable as a Community Trade Mark, thus ending almost 15 years of controversy surrounding the famous eight studded brick. The Court of Justice ruled that trade mark protection cannot be utilised so as to grant a company a monopoly on technical solutions or the technical characteristics of a product. The court did acknowledge the potential difficulties faced by companies in Lego’s circumstance and suggested, without any detailed discussion of the issue, that competition law may offer a potential remedy. Given the complexity of this area of EU law and the differing rules applying between Member States, this may, in reality, offer little comfort to Lego.
ACS Law Incident and the Data Protection Dangers posed by Cyber Attacks
A recent cyber attack against ACS Law has once again raised the issue of website security and data protection. ACS Law suffered a distributed denial of service attack against its website which took it offline. In the process of restoring the website a back-up folder containing highly confidential emails was made public. The highly sensitive nature of this information has attracted the attention of the UK Information Commissioner who has commenced an investigation into the data breach and has stated that the firm has a number of serious questions to answer. Following on from a number of other cyber attacks, such as those suffered by the CAO website in Ireland, this incident has again highlighted the importance of establishing plans to deal with this growing problem.
