Christopher Graham has just become the UK’s new , replacing Richard Thomas who stepped down this week after nine years. The Information Commissioner is the person responsible for policing the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. Graham was previously the director general of the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). Graham will have…
Category: Govt
Commentary: Gary McKinnon’s extradition battle
James Slack of The Daily Mail has an article on the extradition battle for Gary McKinnon, a case that has become somewhat of a cause celebre. The case raises a number of issues, including whether extraditing someone with Asperger’s Disorder to face a potentially lengthy prison sentence in the U.S. constitutes a serious threat to…
Prisoners on run cannot be named
Civil servants have refused to name inmates who have fled prison even though individual police forces will often identify them if they pose a risk to the public. They say releasing their names would breach obligations under the Data Protection Act. It echoes a row in 2007 when Derbyshire Police refused to release pictures of…
Privacy Act reform likely delayed till 2010
Chances that Congress would enact legislation to update the 35-year-old Privacy Act this year are slipping away. The legislation would have had to be introduced by Independence Day for it to have any chance of being enacted this year, says Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology, who has been working closely with…