Apologies - catch up 7 February

Dear all
Apologies that I couldn't make it to today's class - the A12 had a disaster! We will make up over the next 4 weeks.
Best regards
Chris

Week 2 Assignments

1. Read a short introduction to data protection and privacy - either from Lloyd, Bainbridge or the blog - only choose one chapter.
2. Spend 30 minutes in pairs conducting independent directed web research on your national data protection law and its relationship to the European Directive. Any problems, email me: ctmarsden@yahoo.co.uk
3. You will all have to pick up on FRIDAY FROM HAYLEY/MARIA 28th a copy of the Directive EC/95/46 - the data protection directive.
Read the recitals and first chapter - this week we will continue to consider policy towards data protection.
Optional questions:
[1] How well do you consider that the Directive balances the right to data protection against other rights?
[2] Which rights in particular (whether of individuals, governments or the effective working of the market ) do you believe are under-served by the Directive?

2006 Course Catalogue Description

LW656-G-SP: DATA PROTECTION
Year: 2005/2006
Department: Law
Staff Supervisor: Chris Marsden
Contact details: essexdataprotection.blogspot.com
Email: ctmarsden@yahoo.co.uk
Course Description
See the course blog (open to posting by both students and me) at http://essexdataprotection.blogspot.com for the spring course.
This course seeks to introduce students to the complex area of data protection - that is: to the complex system of rules and regulations aimed at protecting individuals (and to a limited extent "legal persons") with regard to the processing of information on them by public and private bodies. The course will cover:the history and development of data protection as a concept from the 1970s to now; the multi-layered international-legal framework for data protection; selected national data protection laws; and transnational legal questions, including in particular the application of data protection rules and concepts to the Internet. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to study the way in which selected public and private data users ("controllers") process personal data in practice, and what measures they take to comply with data protection rules. They are asked to discuss whether practice lives up to the theoretical requirements, whether this is actually achievable under the current national and international legal regime, and what the future can or should hold.
Week 2 (Week 18, 31 January): Theories of privacy - comparative approaches
Week 3: Directive 1995/46 - How The Legislatin Was Introduced
Week 4: Safe Harbour Provisions
Week 5: Implementation in National Law: Data Protection Act 1998 Example
Week 6: Information Commissioners - Guest Speaker Dr Ian Brown
Week 7: Lindquist case
Week 8: CCTV Cameras and other surveillance techniques
Week 9: Electronic Privacy, Data Retention
Week 10: Conclusion - Futures for Privacy and Trade in Privacy

European Commission homepage on Data protection

The best source of primary legislative and implementation reports:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/privacy/index_en.htm

ID Cards and Data Retention debates

This is going to be a course based on an extremely controversial topic. Data protection is currently being debated as part of 2 Europe-wide schemes:
[1] the use of ID cards - the UK doesn't have them currently, never has had, but government is intending to use them. See the LSE Report.
[2] mandatory retention of communications data. This is subject to many discussions, amongst them and quite enlightened several years - amongst them 'Carnivore'.

Week 1 Reading: The Right to Privacy

Read ths extract from Guardster's tutorial on privacy:
http://www.guardster.com/?Tutorials-The_Right_to_Privacy
Also look at the anonymity offered by Guardster - would you use this if you were websurfing in China?
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickonline.asp?pageid=666&co_pageid=3