Legal

We regularly act in matters where the use of data and technology by state authorities give rise to public law and human rights issues. Our lawyers have extensive experience of bringing judicial review challenges and pursuing matters with regulatory authorities.

Experience

• Securing a widely-reported apology and rectification for a UK journalist inaccurately categorized as a ‘vaccine-sceptic’ by UK government surveillance
• Representing a campaign group in a judicial review challenge to NHS England’s policy in relation to the National Data Opt-Out
• Challenge to the Department for Education’s proposals to live track pupils’ attendance
• Advising the ICO on discharging its regulatory duties in relation to enforcement of the Online Safety Act
• Actions against state authorities in UK and European courts (ECHR and CJEU)
• Acting for third party interveners in judicial reviews in the UK High Court and at the European Court of Human Rights
• Pursuing freedom of information requests in the UK and EU and challenging refusals with the ICO, courts and EU Ombudsman

Our lawyers are recognized as leading experts on the GDPR, UK Data Protection Act, Privacy of Electronic Communications (PECR) as they apply to the Advertising Technology (AdTech) industry. We have acted against major AdTech companies and users of AdTech services, whilst also providing advice to companies working in AdTech. For example, we advised a large web service provider on privacy-preserving approaches to delivery of advertising content.

Experience

• Advising a major web browser provider on approaches to privacy-preserving advertising distribution and their response to regulatory complaints under the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive
• Representing Tanya O’Carroll in her claim against Meta (Facebook) asserting her right to object to profiling for online advertising
• Representing individuals and organisations in ground-breaking complaints against Google and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s “real-time bidding system” (RTB), leading to the Belgian data protection authority (ADP) finding breaches of the GDPR and the CJEU finding the IAB responsible for processing by users of its Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF)
• Drafting a model complaint on Meta’s “pay or okay” model filed with data protection authorities by BEUC’s member organisations in 8 different EU jurisdictions
• Representing the Open Rights Group in a court challenge against the ICO’s decision to close its investigation into the AdTech ecosystem without further action
• Securing an ICO reprimand against Sky Bet’s parent company for unlawfully deploying a pixel on its website that facilitated the setting of approximately 40 third-party surveillance tools

In the media

• TechCrunch, Behavioral ad industry gets hard reform deadline after IAB’s TCF found to breach Europe’s GDPR (2 February 2022)
• The Guardian, The Great Hack: the film that goes behind the scenes of the Facebook data scandal (20 July 2019)
• The Guardian, David Carroll, the US professor taking on Cambridge Analytica in the UK courts (20 March 2018)

Our lawyers are experts in the most cutting-edge areas of technology, including Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models and biometrics. We advise on how the law helps mitigate the potential harm of these new technologies, in particular data protection, human rights, digital regulation, intellectual property or public law. We help developers innovate and users deploy in a safe, compliant, ethical and rights-respecting way. We help individuals and organisations challenge harmful uses of these technologies and seek redress when they’ve been wronged.

Experience

• Analysis of the regulation of AI harms (for thinktanks Ada Lovelace Institute and Connected by Data) and support to Ada Lovelace Institute in their response to the UK government’s consultation on AI harms
• Advising on and drafting Generative AI use policies
• Advising the Serpentine Gallery on a significant Generative AI project blending novel approaches to artistic creation and the empowerment of individuals
• Advising content creators, artists and AI developers on the complex and fast-evolving regulation of intellectual property and data protection rights in AI
• Bringing regulatory complaints and court claims in relation to the private sector use of facial recognition technology (FRT)
• Representing individuals in cases against the online gambling industry, relating to how that industry uses data and technology
• Analysis for the open-source community of the data protection issues related to open-source LLMs

In the media

• Coded Bias, Netflix Documentary by Shalini Kantayya (2020)

Experience

• Advising public policy clients during the legislative process for the UK’s Online Safety Act
• Representing Tanya O’Carroll in her claim against Meta (Facebook) asserting her right to object to profiling for online advertising
• Representing individuals and organisations in ground-breaking complaints against Google and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s “real-time bidding system” (RTB), leading to the Belgian data protection authority (ADP) finding breaches of the GDPR and the CJEU finding the IAB responsible for processing by users of its Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF)
• Drafting a model complaint on Meta’s “pay or okay” model filed with data protection authorities by BEUC’s member organisations in 8 different EU jurisdictions
• Advising a group of parents on challenges to addictive design features of social media platforms affecting users under

We advise individuals who are or have been subjected to surveillance by state authorities and private actors, and organisations that wish to challenge surveillance practices. Our team has long-standing expertise across the laws that govern surveillance, from international human rights to investigatory powers laws. We seek remedies for our clients, bring regulatory and court challenges and advise clients on advocating for better protections against arbitrary surveillance.

Experience

• Securing a full public apology and rectification by the Cabinet Office for a UK journalist inaccurately labelled as a ‘vaccine sceptic’ by UK government surveillance
• Representing individuals wrongly placed on watchlists by private sector use of facial recognition technology
• Representing Big Brother Watch in and ICO complaint against a UK supermarket’s use of live facial recognition cameras
• Producing a report for the Open Rights Group on the ICO’s regulatory oversight of health surveillance measures during the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential
• Advising on human rights and data protection safeguards for public-private surveillance partnerships
• Advising the US Center for Democracy and Technology on laws across Europe relating to police powers to seize data for investigations
• Advising on reforms to the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act

In the media

• The Daily Mail, Cabinet Office is forced to apologise to Julia Hartley-Brewer after government documents unlawfully described the TalkTV presenter as a 'known vaccine sceptic' (27 October 2023)
• Politico, French defense firm profiles potential hires using their social media pages (7 December 2022)
• BBC, Convenience store spy cameras face legal challenge (25 July 2022)

We advise workers and unions in protecting workers’ rights against harmful uses of data and technology in the workplace. Our lawyers have experience and experience of supporting workers to obtain access to their data from employers and understand how decisions are made about them, and to challenge these in or out of court. We also advise employers and workplaces in developing and implementing policies and practices that take advantage of innovative uses of data and technology, while protecting their organization and employees.

Experience

• Bringing regulatory challenges to the infringement of workers’ data rights in the gig economy and in relation to workplace use of Generative AI
• Advising on and drafting Generative AI workplace use policies – produced a Generative AI Toolkit for the Trades Union Congress, a coalition of 48 trade unions in the UK
• Advising FIFPRO on understanding how professional footballers can assert control over the use of their data
• Retained by unions such as UNISON to provide advice on emerging technology
• Advising Equity, the performing artists union, on upholding performers’ rights in the generative AI supply chain

In the media

• Context, Your manager is an algorithm. Here’s how to fight back (13 October 2022)