Privacy – Page 15

Landladies ordered to pay students €115,000 in damages
Simon Carswell

Two Dublin landladies have been ordered to pay damages totalling more than €115,000 to 10 students who were tenants in their house after the Circuit Court found they had kept the students under secret electronic surveillance. …

The students became concerned in late 2004 that their conversations and activities were being monitored when the McKennas referred to details the students had discussed in private in the house. When they raised the issue with the McKennas, the students were evicted. … Judge Gerard Griffin yesterday found that the evidence in the case left him “in no doubt whatsoever that the defendants had kept these plaintiffs under electronic surveillance”. … He found the students’ rights to privacy had been infringed and he awarded them damages varying from €7,500 to €12,500 each.

…

Association of European Journalists in Dublin

12 November, 200725 March, 2009

| 2 Comments

| Defamation, Media and Communications, Privacy

The Association of European Journalists held their 45th Annual Congress in Dublin Castle over the weekend. On Saturday, 10 November 2007, the morning session considered the theme:

50 years later: The EU in a shrinking world

And they, lucky people, heard a speech by An Taoiseach (blogged here; reported here, here and here (Irish Times sub req’d)) in which he said that a referendum on the Lisbon Reform Treaty is likely be held in the first half of 2008. (He had previously addressed the Irish Branch of the AEJ in 2005 (reported here), as have several of his Ministers since: Minister of State Treacy in 2007, and Minister Ryan in 2007 – also here).

Of greater interest, the afternoon session considered the theme

Freedom of the Media

The special guest was Miklos Haraszti, Representative for Freedom of the Media in the OSCE. According to an article by Marie O’Halloran in today’s Irish Times (sub req’d), he urged that Ireland should “show the rest of the world and create a wonderful example” by becoming the first western EU state to drop legislation that allows for the jailing of journalists for defamation. He said that said section 34 of the Defamation Bil, 2006 was “very progressive” and abolished common law offences of criminal, seditious and obscene libel, but section 35 allowed for a sentence of up to five years for the publication of “gravely harmful statements”.…

You don’t know what you’ve lost till it’s gone? Privacy in a world gone Web2.0

29 July, 200724 February, 2009

| 10 Comments

| data retention, Media and Communications, Privacy

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi

I’ve had this Joni Mitchell song going round in my head since I read Damien Mulley’s apocalyptic post Privacy in a world of lifestreaming on Friday (and the song is relevant to my point even though Joni has sold out to Starbucks – say it ain’t so, Joni, say it ain’t so – she has signed a 2-album deal with Starbucks’ “Hear Music” label, and the first album, released in September, will contain a new version of Big Yellow Taxi).

Anyway, prompted in part by a story that UK police will soon have cameras in their helmets, Damien raises important questions about a world where our privacy is invaded – not so much by state surveillance or corporate cctv, which we all now recognise, tolerate, even accept (so the helmet cams are little more than portable cctv) – as by each other, as others post photos of us to flickr (or other photo sharing sites), or videos of us to YouTube (or other video sharing sites), or all this and much much more on bebo (or other social networking sites), to say nothing of what we reveal about others in the blogosphere.…

Simpsons’ Law

27 July, 200724 September, 2008

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| Cinema, television and theatre, Copyright, Privacy

Having had the pleasure of seeing The Simpsons Movie (imdb | wikipedia | and see here for a legal dispute about the domain name), I’m going to leave the reviews to the movie professionals (not perfect, but … the funniest animated film in years, writes Donald Clarke in The Ticket supplement to today’s Irish Times), and make only three quick comments from the perspectives of legal issues often raised on this blog. Warning, there are mild movie plot spoilers here.

First, copyright. When the movie reaches the tv series credit sequence, this remade sequence has Bart write on the chalkboard “I will not illegally download this movie”.

Second, privacy. There is a wonderful sequence where Marge and Lisa chat on a train and the scene cuts to an ominously huge government listening operation, where the operative listening in on their conversation celebrates wildly on having found the only useful piece of information (ever?).

Third, legal research. Last week’s “Friday Fillip” on Slaw meditated on the linkages between The Simpsons and Legal Research; and there’s more in the same vein here.

As I have often seen online: share and enjoy.…

Nothing to hide?

9 July, 200719 July, 2007

| 5 Comments

| Privacy

Just posted on SSRN, an essay by Daniel J Solove entitled “I’ve Got Nothing to Hide” and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy. From the abstract:

… When asked about government surveillance and data mining, many people respond by declaring: “I’ve got nothing to hide.” According to the “nothing to hide” argument, there is no threat to privacy unless the government uncovers unlawful activity, in which case a person has no legitimate justification to claim that it remain private. The “nothing to hide” argument and its variants are quite prevalent, and thus are worth addressing. In this essay, Solove critiques the “nothing to hide” argument and exposes its faulty underpinnings.

…

Another development in the protection of privacy

8 July, 20078 July, 2007

| No Comments

| Privacy

From a post on the always-excellent Ghosts in the Machine blog (Privacy Rights and Terror Investigations), a story on the BBC Technology site (Net growth prompts privacy update), and a pointer from DaithÃ (off-blog, via del.icio.us) in the direction of a story on OUT-LAW (International effort on privacy protection is launched), I learn that the “world’s leading industrialised nations have been forced to update privacy laws made obsolete by the huge volume of data moving around the net”. (BBC).

A committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), chaired by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, has recommended both minimum standards for the protection of privacy in its members states (which include Ireland), and mechanisms for sharing information about privacy violators between member states; and it suggests methods for improving communication among agencies (such as Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner) that enforce privacy laws. As Library Boy explains, with “the increasing flow of personal data across national borders, the unlawful use of private information becomes easier and privacy advocates see a need for better ways of providing mutual assistance to one another in the enforcement of privacy laws”.…

Another Gray day for privacy

6 July, 20078 July, 2007

| 2 Comments

| Privacy

Two updates following on from my posts (here and here) about a Dublin family who moved to Ballybunion but were forced out when the GardaÃ leaked to the local press that they had taken in their nephew who had just been released from prison after serving a sentence for rape.

First, a report of the judgment in the case is now available online at Gray v Minister for Justice [2007] IEHC 52 (17 January 2007).

Second, Daniel J Solove on Concurring Opinions has a fascinating post about liability for invasion of privacy in similar circumstances in the US: The Steven Hatfill Case, Law Enforcement Leaks, and Journalist Privilege. …

Google and Privacy redux

15 June, 200723 November, 2010

| 11 Comments

| data retention, Media and Communications, Privacy

Following on from my posts Who will google Google?, That was the week that was, and Watching your every move, come two articles from John Collins in today’s Irish Times (sub req’d), as well as some important developments by Google.