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The Investigatory Powers Tribunal and Bulk Communications Data Acquisition: Lacking Respect for the Right to Privacy and Fundamental Rights? journal article

Matthew White

European Data Protection Law Review, Volume 7 (2021), Issue 1, Page 74 - 90

In 2016, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Tele2 and Watson ruled that blanket indiscriminate data retention was incompatible with European Union law. This ruling did not mean that the Court of Justice’s interpretation of the requirements of the Charter of Fundamental Rights was ‘limited only to this set of surveillance measures.’ Thus, a year later, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in Privacy International v the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Others handed down a judgment regarding the lawfulness under EU law of the acquisition and use of Bulk Communications Data under s.94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal subsequently referred this matter to the Court of Justice. This article’s primary focus is not with the preliminary reference itself, but the underlying flawed logic of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal’s reasoning with regards to privacy which subsequently weakens fundamental rights protection. Keywords: Privacy | Article 8 ECHR | Respect | Fundamental Rights


Immigration Exemption and the European Convention on Human Rights journal article

Matthew White

European Data Protection Law Review, Volume 5 (2019), Issue 1, Page 26 - 42

The European Union has introduced the General Data Protection Regulation to reform and update data protection laws across Member States. To comply, the United Kingdom has introduced the Data Protection Act 2018. This article focuses on one schedule of the new Act, a data protection exemption for effective immigration control purposes. Considering that the UK Parliament has not implemented the Charter of Fundamental Rights into domestic law post-Brexit, it is therefore necessary to consider this exemption under the European Convention on Human Rights. Recital 73 of the Regulation requires any restrictions on the protection of personal data to be compatible with the Convention. In concluding that the exemption is incompatible with the Convention, this will highlight that not only would the UK be failing their existing human rights obligations but also raises concerns about the UK’s adequacy status as a third country post-Brexit. Keywords: Immigration, Exemptions, Article 8 ECHR, Effective Remedy, Discrimination

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