Last week, the UK government outlined its legislative programme for 2026. This article covers the key bills affecting tech and digital businesses. While there is no single technology or AI bill included in the programme, there are a number of measures and targeted reforms affecting AI, cyber security, digital infrastructure and competition law. Under the…
Read More… from King’s Speech 2026: Key developments in digital and tech
UK law ICO fines South Staffordshire plc and South Staffordshire Water plc £963,900 following cyberattack and data breach The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined South Staffordshire plc and South Staffordshire Water plc £963,900. This follows a cyberattack and data breach which led to the personal information of 633,887 customers and employees being extracted and published…
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued an update on its online tracking strategy, which it launched at the beginning of 2025. It sets out the ICO’s plans to give people choice and control over how they are tracked online and provide businesses with certainty so they are able to innovate responsibly. We recently wrote…
UK law ICO updates guidance on direct marketing using electronic mail The ICO has issued its guidance on direct marketing using electronic mail. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 introduced a new soft opt-in for charitable purposes in PECR regulation 22(3A). This allows charities to send direct marketing by electronic mail without people’s consent…
A team from Norton Rose Fulbright run through some of the novel issues advisors need to consider now so many outsourcing projects involve the use of AI Traditionally, IT outsourcings (ITOs) and business process outsourcings (BPOs) have been centred around the delivery of services by personnel with clear service descriptions and performance requirements and may…
Read More… from Outsourcing Contracts and AI: The New Considerations
UK law Data Protection Act 2018 (Code of Practice on Artificial Intelligence and Automated Decision-Making) Regulations 2026 made The Data Protection Act 2018 (Code of Practice on Artificial Intelligence and Automated Decision-Making) Regulations 2026 SI 2016/425 have been made. They require the Information Commissioner to prepare a code of practice on the processing of personal…
Indraneel Basu Majumdar highlights the common law similarities between the UK and emerging crypto regulations in two Gulf regions – Abu Dhabi and Dubai – and how those advising could factor them into their advice Introduction As stablecoins and tokenised assets move from speculative trading into mainstream settlement and collateral workflows, businesses are increasingly “jurisdiction…
The European Commission and 23 European consumer protection authorities have published the results of a screening (‘sweep’) of online discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) is a network of national authorities responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. Under the coordination of the European Commission, they…
Read More… from European Commission and consumer authority investigate Black Friday discounts
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Adobe related to concerns that early cancellation fees on membership plans for certain products may breach consumer protection law. Adobe’s products, like Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe Premiere, are widely used by consumers to create and edit content such as photographs and videos. Consumers who…
Read More… from CMA investigates Adobe over concerns about cancellation fees
With AI now increasingly a part of our professional lives, Clive Davies ponders whether there is room for more services to become products in the IT legal world. Introduction “Productise” means to “make or develop (a service, concept, etc.) into a product”. In this age of generative and agentive AI it seems reasonable to revisit…