Subject Access Requests - New Guidance
New guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office deals with the issues that arise when an individual makes a subject access request under the Data Protection Act (DPA) for access to their own personal data.  It also deals with the issues that arise when a third party makes a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to a public authority for access to personal data about somebody else held in a complaint file.  This document adds to the tools that an FE and HE institution needs in order to comply with subject access requests and Freedom of Information requests for personal data.  It includes case studies and deals with the complex area of third party personal data.  You can find the document by searching for "Access to information held in complaint files "on the ICO website at - www.ico.gov.uk.

FOI Research Exemption to be Amended
Changes to the Protection of Freedoms Bill have been published which are designed to increase protection for unpublished research.  The proposal, if passed, would make an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 enabling institutions to claim an exemption where their research is ongoing and where its disclosure, before the date of publication, would substantially prejudice the research. 

Freedom of Information and Research - HE Guidance
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has produced guidance to aid the understanding and application of the freedom of information legislation for higher education institutions, with a particular focus on research information.  Areas dealt with include commercial information, vexatious requests and personal email accounts.  The purpose of the guidance is to provide advice relating to the law as it currently stands - the exemptions and exceptions in FOIA and EIR can provide a reasonable level of protection for research information, when there is genuine need to protect it.  

Preventing IPR Infringement in the Workplace
New IP guidance for businesses to make sure they don't fall foul of intellectual property laws has been launched.  The guidance is designed to raise awareness of the importance of managing intellectual property in the workplace in order to enable businesses to protect their own IP and to respect the IP of others.  The guidance will help a business to assess the risks and develop a response.  It provides advice on how to make sure that the company and their employees are not illegally using other people's intellectual property.

Expanding Access to Published Research Findings
A new independent working group has been set up to examine how UK-funded research findings can be made more accessible. The group will propose a programme of action and make recommendations to Government, research funders, publishers and other interested parties on how access to research findings and outcomes can be broadened for key audiences such as researchers, policy makers and the general public. It will seek to identify the key goals and guiding principles that should underlie public policy on publication of, and access to, research findings.  

Help to Shape University Engagement Policy at the IPO
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) would like to work with universities and Knowledge Exchange (KE) professionals to improve awareness among academics and learners of the importance of intellectual property (IP). The IPO are inviting involvement in the process in order to influence their policy development.  It is believed that raising the awareness and understanding of IP among students of all subjects is key to achieving an IP savvy graduate workforce who can use IP to deliver growth for the UK.  

Trolling Via Facebook Leads to Jail Sentence
In a recent court case a man was jailed for improper user of a public electronic communications network. He used Facebook and YouTube to post offensive and distressing comments relating to a teenager who had committed suicide. The charges were brought under the Communications Act 2003 s127 which makes it a criminal offence to send by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character. The case highlights again the need for colleges to take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously with regard to appropriate use of their own computing facilities. It also reinforces the important role that their e-safety policies and practice play with regard to promotion and education of their students on responsible use of social networking sites whilst at college and in the wider community. 

How Personal Data can be Transferred Outside the EEA
The lack of clarity and harmonisation of the data export rules gives rise to significant uncertainties relating to the use of cloud computing.  What should matter is not where information is stored, but who can read it and the focus on data location should not obscure the underlying purpose of the data export restriction, namely data protection.  These are some of the legal areas explored by two further papers by the Queen Mary University of London, School of Law Cloud Legal Project.  The papers ask the questions - "When are Cloud Users and Providers Subject to EU Data Protection Law?" and "How Can Personal Data Be Transferred Outside the EEA?" 

EU adopts Extension to Copyright Term for Sound Recordings
An EU Directive extending the term of copyright in sound recordings to 70 years was adopted at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 12th September 2011. The Directive, which amends Directive 2006/116/EC on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights, increases performers’ rights in sound recordings and the rights of producers of sound recordings from 50 years to 70 years from the date of first lawful publication or communication to the public.  This change brings performers’ rights closer to those of authors who have copyright protection for their lifetime and 70 years after their death.

Scottish Government Consults on the Public Sector Equality Duty Specific Duties
The Scottish Government is consulting on changes to the draft regulations relating to the public sector equality duty specific duties. The public sector equality duty aims to assist public authorities ensure that their services, policies and practices promote equality, eliminate discrimination, and foster good relations and came into force in Scotland on 5 April 2011. The specific duties outlined in the draft regulations aim to enable better performance of the general public sector equality duty and the previous draft regulations were withdrawn earlier this year following the comments of the Equal Opportunities Committee in March 2011. 

Medical Student Loss of Memory Stick Results in Data Protection Breach
A medical student on placement at a hospital transferred personal information of patients onto an unencrypted medical stick to continue the research after the work placement had ended. The student had been provided with an encrypted memory stick with the personal information of patients related to the research and was asked to continue the research on completion of the placement.