Privacy online and offline: Data, the personal and the public interest

About the course

This ground-breaking course was described in its inaugural year as “the best course I have ever attended”.  UCL’s Institute of Brand and Innovation Law is offering this course for a second year, refreshed and updated to reflect recent legal and technological developments.  This two-day seminar features world class speakers including experts in law enforcement, international data protection, security, computer science and cryptography along with internationally respected lawyers and policymakers.

Designed for recently qualified lawyers, companies with responsibility for holding personal data, and policy makers working within this complex field we will look “under the bonnet” of social media, examine developments in data sharing and online security. We will consider the tension between the data needs of government and policymakers in a world where enormous siloes of citizens’ data are held privately. 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to bite in May. We will review its provisions and their interaction with other protections of or incursions into our private lives and public faces. Although certain rights and freedoms for citizens are enshrined in countries’ domestic legislation as well as under international law, what is actually private in today’s world?  Some years ago a MetaFilter user argued:

“'If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold'”. 

Is this true? In a global marketplace our personal data is stored and shared by multi-national corporations that depend upon it for their revenues.  Is the gathering and remote analysis of metadata lawful?   What measures should companies have in place to protect what they store about others and are they successfully protecting it?  Who should be afforded access to their proprietary information? 

In an age of 24-hour global news and the internet, where does privacy end and the public interest begin? What protection is afforded when conscience prompts a whistle-blower to act?

Governments ask for more and more transparency from their citizens in order to protect us.  At the same time governments have the capacity to shield their activities from genuine democratic scrutiny.  What takes precedence: state security or citizens’ privacy?  We expect our governments to respond to real security threats to society.  How much of our privacy will we, should we, sacrifice to keep us safe? 

All these questions and more will be examined in this two-day course for company executives and lawyers qualified from two to five years.

Places are limited so students are encouraged to apply early.

The areas covered

1. The Citizen: Democracy and Privacy
   An introduction to the Human Rights Act and the International Convention on Human Rights; citizen’s domestic privacy; drones by air; government requests for citizens’ private data and the limits we might ideally wish to place on the sharing of personal information in a democracy.
2. Privacy, Freedom of Expression and the Press
   Celebrity, reputation and free speech: the public interest as opposed to what interests the public.     
3. Data Protection: Developments Both Here & Abroad
   What is the current Data Protection regime and what changes will the GDPR deliver when it takes effect in May (Brexit notwithstanding)?  What are the current risks and challenges faced in the online world in this respect? 
4. Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Privacy
   There have been concerns aired in relation to the player data acquired during gaming but what of the environment surrounding players?  What if you don’t want your home, your business or your child’s school included in a VR/AR game.  How do you feel about your being involuntarily featured in a VR/AR game that is played out in a public space?
5. Global Data Transfer and Data Sharing
   Data shared between nations, developments since Schrems and Facebook, Ors and Google, international data exchange regulations and the Privacy Shield
6. A Social Media Case Study:
   The ShareLab Project: looked “under the bonnet” at the algorithms of a US tech giant. The data our interactions provide feeds the complex algorithms that power a social media site and our behaviour is transformed into a product.
7. Children: Balancing Privacy and Protection with online freedoms
   Privacy, net neutrality and the protection of younger users of the internet from the influences of pornography, violence, harassment and radicalisation.
8. Whistleblowing: the Law and Ethics of Leaking
   Employee obligations/duties to their employer; company whistle-blowers; when does an employee obligation cross the line in instances where they believe they serve the public interest.
9. Private Data, Public Policy and Social Planning

   An exploration of the tension between government statistics and private ownership of data.  How do we reconcile the holding of data about private citizens, by private companies that protect it as commercially valuable proprietary information, with the issue that the same information may have value for the purposes of social planning to elected governments with a duty to their electorates?

10. Applied Cryptography
    Privacy-preserving cryptographic protocols; anonymous electronic cash and identification; invisible access to databases; new techniques in the design and deployment of advanced cryptographic protocols.
11. Privacy and Public Safety
    Responding to genuine threat; the policy, legal and security justifications for access to citizens’ data and communications.
12. Born in the USA
    How does one reconcile the Constitution of the USA with US legislation such as the Homeland Security Act, the PATRIOT Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and other modern legislative devices?

13. Surveillance: Gadgets and Governance
    Surveillance equipment and techniques, the procedures required and standards that must be met to employ them lawfully in the interests of law enforcement and serving client needs.  What resources are available to the professional working in surveillance and related forensic activities, when is the use of these devices unlawful?  How does one serve the client and stay within the law?

Speaker include

• Stefano Debolini (Intellectual Property, IT and Technology Groups,  Sheridans LLP)
• Lisa Felton (Global Head of Services Regulation and Content Standards Vodafone and Chair of the Family Online Safety Institute)
• Amanda Harcourt
• Professor Vladan Joler (Associate Professor and Chair of New Media Department at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia)
• James Laddie QC (Matrix Chambers)
• Andrew Lee (Partner, Brandsmiths LLP)
• Dr Steven Murdoch (UCL Computer Science)
• Dietrich Neumann (Head of Corporate Services, Governance, Europol)
• Dr Nora Ni Loideain (Director and Lecturer in Law, Information Law & Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London)
• Heather Savory (Director General for Data Capability & Deputy National Statistician at the UK Office for National Statistics)
• Dan Tench (Partner CMS Nabarro Olswang LLP)
• Caroline Wilson Palow (General Counsel Privacy International)
• Mark Zaid (Attorney at Law, Washington D.C.)
• and others

Fees

Fees including two days training, including all refreshments and materials.

EARLY BIRD TICKETS AVAILABLE UNTIL 2 FEBRUARY
Standard fee = £830.00 (£750 Early Bird)
UCL Alumni and UCL IBIL Sponsors - £705.50 (£650 Early Bird)

Book your place on the course

View the programme

Monday 26th February 2018
9.30	Introduction to the course and a consideration of the key features of privacy and how they might differ in the way in which society values them. Amanda Harcourt
10.00	The Citizen: Democracy and Privacy An introduction to the Human Rights Act and the International Convention on Human Rights; citizen’s domestic privacy; drones by air; government requests for citizens’ private data and the limits we might ideally wish to place on the sharing of personal information in a democracy. Caroline Wilson Palow, General Counsel Privacy International
11:00	Break
11:15	Privacy, Freedom of Expression and the Press Celebrity, reputation and free speech: the public interest as opposed to what interests the public.   Andrew Lee, Partner, Brandsmiths LLP
12:15	Data Protection: Developments and Challenges Both Here & Abroad What is the current Data Protection regime and what changes will the GDPR deliver when it takes effect in May (Brexit notwithstanding)?  What are the current risks and challenges faced in the online world in this respect?  Dr Nora Ni Loideain, Director and Lecturer in Law, Information Law & Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
13:15	Lunch
14:15	Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Privacy There have been concerns aired in relation to the player data acquired during gaming but what of the environment surrounding players?  What if you don’t want your home, your business or your child’s school included in a VR/AR game.  How do you feel about your being involuntarily featured in a VR/AR game that is played out in a public space? Stefano Debolini, Intellectual Property, IT and Technology Groups,  Sheridans LLP
15:15	Film
16:15	Global Data Transfer and Data Sharing Data is shared between nations.  Since Schrems and Facebook, Ors and Google, what other legal challenges are coming from public bodies and private citizens over international data exchange  and incursions into our privacy. Dan Tench, Partner CMS Nabarro Olswang LLP
17:15	A Case Study:           The ShareLab Project: looking “under the bonnet” at the algorithms of a US tech giant. The data our interactions provide feeds the complex algorithms that power a social media site and our behaviour is transformed into a product. Professor Vladan Joler,   Associate Professor and Chair of the New Media Department, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
18:00	Day one ends

 

Tuesday 27th February 2018
09:30	Children: Balancing Privacy and Protection with Online Freedoms Privacy, net neutrality and the protection of younger users of the internet from the influences of pornography, violence, harassment and radicalisation Lisa Felton, Global Head of Services Regulation and Content Standards Vodafone and Chair of the Family Online Safety Institute
10:30	Whistleblowing: the Law and Ethics of Leaking Employee obligations/duties to their employer; company whistle-blowers; when does an employee obligation cross the line in instances where they believe they serve the public interest. James Laddie QC, Matrix Chambers
11:30	Break
11:45	Applied Cryptography Privacy-preserving cryptographic protocols; anonymous electronic cash and identification; invisible access to databases; new techniques in the design and deployment of advanced cryptographic protocols. Dr Steven Murdoch, Computer Science Dept, UCL
12:45	Lunch
13:45	Private Data, Public Policy and Social Planning An exploration of the tension between government statistics and private ownership of data. How do we reconcile the holding of data about private citizens, by private companies who protect it as commercially valuable proprietary information, with the issue that the same information may have value for the purposes of social planning to elected governments with a duty to their electorates? Heather Savory, Director General for Data Capability & Deputy National Statistician at the Office for National Statistics
14:45	Privacy and Public Safety Responding to genuine threat; the policy, legal and security justifications for access to citizens’ data and communications. Mr Dietrich Neumann, Head of Corporate Services, Europol.
15:45	Tea
16:00	Born in the USA How does one reconcile the Constitution of the USA with US legislation such as the Homeland Security Act, the PATRIOT Act,  the Freedom of Information Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and other modern legislative devices?    Mark Zaid, Attorney at Law, Washington D.C.
17:00	Legal Constraints on Investigations Jeffrey Katz, Chief Executive, Bishop Group
18:00	Course ends

               

 

About the speakers

Stefano Debolini, Intellectual Property, IT and Technology Groups, Sheridans LLP
A law graduate from UCL, prior to qualification, Stefano studied computer science at Cambridge. His experience as a software developer means he has an excellent grasp of the legal, technical and commercial issues impacting a transaction.  Stefano has written articles on a range of intellectual property, IT and commercial issues, lectured on intellectual property to budding entrepreneurs and, importantly in the field of VR ad AR, he has spoken on the implications of intellectual property law for creatives.

Lisa Felton, Vodafone
Lisa Felton is currently Global Head of Services Regulation and Content Standards at Vodafone responsible for consumer policy, content, payments, internet safety and sector specific regulation. Felton has 14 years’ experience as a lawyer both within Vodafone and in private practice.   She trained at Goodman Derrick and then moved to Bristow’s Corporate and Commercial Department.  In 2009 she was appointed Senior Solicitor at Vodafone, and became the manager for Global Governance and Strategy with a specific mandate in respect of e-commerce and telecoms regulation.  She holds an MA from Oxford University in Law and a Masters in International Law of Human Rights.  Lisa is also Chair of the Family Online Safety Institute the international non-profit organization which works to make the online world safer for kids and their families.

Professor Vladan Joler, Associate Professor and Chair of New Media Department at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Vladan Joler is an Associate Professor and Chair of the New Media Department at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, and the founder and Director of SHARE Foundation and SHARE Labs, an investigative data reporting lab exploring various technical aspects of the intersection between technology and society. The Share Foundation is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to protecting the rights of Internet citizens and promoting positive values of openness, decentralization, free access and exchange of knowledge, information and technology.   In the past few years SHARE Lab has focused on the independent investigation of invisible infrastructures, black boxes that mediate our interactions, our deepest personal communications and our behaviour and activities. The goal was to explore, understand and visualise different aspects of power, hidden behind the walls of the communication infrastructure, hardware and algorithms. Each investigation was a blend of different methodologies, mostly based on analysis of independently collected data, visualisation of large data sets, combined with the principles of investigative journalism and media theory. The research includes: Inside Facebook Algorithmic Factory, Hacking Team metadata investigation, mapping of online trackers, Mobile phone permissions analysis, mapping surveillance architecture.

Jeffrey Katz, Bishop Group
Jeff is a New Yorker who served in the UK with an intelligence branch of the US Air Force.  He came back to the UK in 1979 to become deputy editor of a provincial newspaper.  In 1987 he joined Kroll Associates in London and in 1995 became the company’s Director of European Operations.  In 1999 he was appointed Chief Executive of the Bishop Group, overseeing the acquisition of what is now Bishop IP Investigations.  He has been responsible for inquiries related to high profile litigation, fraud investigations into listed corporations and homicide investigations, including the death in London of Italian banker Roberto Calvi.

James Laddie QC, Matrix Chambers
James practises principally in the fields of employment and discrimination law, commercial law and civil actions against the police. He also practises in the fields of media, sports, public, election and human rights law.   Prior to becoming a Silk before he was 40, he had been ranked in the highest band of juniors in both employment law and police law in Chambers and Partners for several years, being nominated for Employment Junior of the Year in both 2010 and 2011. He has also been highly ranked in employment and in human rights in the Legal 500 for many years.  James has very extensive experience in conducting long and complex trials. In recent years he has been involved in some of the most high-profile and challenging employment claims in England. He has a particular interest in confidentiality and privacy, whistleblowing and disability issues and is very familiar with the issues that arise in cases which have a high media interest.  James is also a very experienced appellate practitioner and has had more than 30 reported employment cases in the last decade. These reported cases illustrate the breadth of his practice, covering all forms of discrimination, whistleblowing, human rights, contract, restrictive covenants, TUPE, working time, trade unions, restrictive covenants and more.

Andrew Lee, Senior Associate      Brandsmiths
Andrew is an experienced litigator with boutique firm Brandsmiths which specialise in intellectual property, sport and media law. Brandsmiths act for well-known brands such as Microsoft, BMW, Rolls Royce, Lucozade, Ribena and The LAD Bible. They also act for high profile individuals incuding Gordon Ramsay and David Haye and others in the public eye.   Andrew has extensive experience in advising clients in respect of the protection of their reputations and the protection of confidential and private information. This includes obtaining pre-publication undertakings and/or injunctions against the press, and helping clients in difficult personal situations where there is a threat by others to disclose private information. He has particular experience of dealing with problems arising on the internet such as individuals (often anonymously) posting defamatory allegations or undertaking campaigns of harassment, identifying those individuals and obtaining relief for clients. 

Dr Steven Murdoch, Principal Research Fellow, Department of Computer Science, UCL
Dr Steven J. Murdoch is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Information Security Research Group of University College London, working on developing metrics for security and privacy. His research interests include authentication/passwords, banking security, anonymous communications, censorship resistance and covert channels. He has worked with the OpenNet Initiative, investigating Internet censorship, and for the Tor Project, on improving the security and usability of the Tor anonymity system. His current research on developing methods to understand complex system security is supported by the Royal Society. He is also working on analysing the security of banking systems, especially Chip & PIN/EMV, and is Innovation Security Architect of Cronto, an online authentication technology provider and part of the VASCO group.

Dr Nora Ni Loideain, Director and Lecturer in Law, Information Law & Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Dr Nóra Ni Loideain is a Visiting Lecturer for the LL.M. Privacy and Information Law module at King’s College London and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Humanities. Nóra was previously an Affiliated Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge.   As Senior Research Fellow on the Media and Democracy Project at the University of Johannesburg, Nóra examined the influence of EU law on the state of the right to privacy and data protection in South Africa, particularly with respect to civil liberties and the development of Cape Town as a smart city. This research contributed to the UN universal periodic review of South Africa’s human rights record in 2017.  Following her doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Technology and Democracy Project at the University of Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH).  Nóra is also an editor of International Data Privacy Law (Oxford University Press). Prior to her academic career, she was a Legal and Policy Officer for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of Ireland and clerked for the Irish Supreme Court. 

Heather Savory, Director General for Data Capability, UK Office for National Statistics          
Heather joined the Office for National Statistics as Deputy National Statistician and Director General for Data Capability in May 2015. She has a strong commercial track-record and extensive board and senior management experience in entrepreneurial and high technology businesses, consulting and central government.   Heather was appointed as Chair of the Open Data User Group (ODUG), an independent advisory group to the Government’s Public Sector Transparency Board, for three years from May 2012; she was also a member of the Regulatory Board of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).   Previously, Heather worked at 3Dlabs as Vice President of Engineering and Operations and eComData as Managing Director. More recently, Heather worked at the centre of UK Government, spending two years in HM Treasury and three in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills at the Better Regulation Executive (BRE).

Dan Tench, Partner CMS Nabarro Olswang LLP
Dan Tench is a litigator with particular expertise in judicial review, competition law, media law (including data protection, privacy and defamation) and sports law, undertaking many leading cases in all these areas (see under the “Experience” tab).

Dan has advised bringing and defending major judicial reviews and other administrative law challenges and on competition litigation cases.  Many of his public law matters have involved issues of significant political controversy and he has exceptional experience in aligning an approach to litigation with broader political and media concerns. He has prepared senior individuals for appearances before (and attended with them at) Parliamentary Select Committees.  Dan has also substantial experience in advising claimants and defendants in defamation, privacy and other media litigation matters including general reputation management matters, securing injunctions and judgments in leading edge internet cases as well as bringing and defending claims for and against all types of traditional media.  He has been involved in responding to many significant data security breach situations with a targeted strategy to minimise the damage, potential liability and disruption caused to the client.  He acted for the claimants in the leading data protection case of Vidal-Hall & Ors v Google.

Dietrich Neumann, Head of Business of Corporate Services, EUROPOL
Dietrich Neumann is responsible for EUROPOL’s external relations and legal affairs unit. Before starting his job as EUROPOL’s in-house counsel in 2004, he held positions at the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and the German Federal Investigation Office. He studied law at the University of Passau and the University of Erlangen, and has an LLM in EU and International Public Law from the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Caroline Wilson Palow, General Counsel Privacy International 
Caroline Wilson Palow is Privacy International’s General Counsel. Caroline leads the legal team and counsels Privacy International’s programmes on legal strategy and risk. Caroline is a US-qualified lawyer who previously specialized in privacy and intellectual property litigation at a prominent US law firm. She received her law degree from Yale Law School and her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.  After law school, Caroline clerked for Judge Warren J. Ferguson of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mark S Zaid, Attorney, Mark S Zaid PC, Washington D.C.
US attorney, Mark Zaid specializes in litigation and lobbying on matters relating to international transactions, torts and crimes, national security, foreign sovereign and diplomatic immunity, defamation (plaintiff) and the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOI/PA).   Through his practice Mr. Zaid often represents former/current federal employees, intelligence and military officers, whistleblowers and others who have grievances or have been wronged by agencies of the United States Government or foreign governments, as well as members of the media. Mr. Zaid teaches D.C. Bar Continuing Legal Education classes on "Defending Security Clearances" and "The Basics of Filing and Litigating Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Requests". He has been named as a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer every year since he was profiled in 2009, as well as a "Best Lawyer" by Washingtonian Magazine in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 (issued bi-annually), for his national security work. As the National Law Journal once wrote, “if Agent Mulder ever needed a lawyer, Zaid would be his man.”  
Mr. Zaid is also the Executive Director and founder of the James Madison Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization with the primary purpose of educating the public on issues relating to intelligence gathering and operations, secrecy policies, national security and government wrongdoing. Starting in January 2014, Mr. Zaid also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University teaching in the Global Studies/National Security Certificate programs.  In connection with his legal practice on international and national security matters, Mr. Zaid has testified before, or provided testimony to, a variety of governmental bodies including the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, the House Government Operations Committee, the Department of Energy, the Public Interest Declassification Board and the Assassination Records Review Board.