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Latest Analysis
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The (Speculative) Rise of AI Agents in Legal
Amanda Chaboryk, Chris Cartmell, and Stephanie Baker, of PwC, raise some early considerations about the seemingly inevitable spread of agentic AI into legal departments IntroductionArtificial Intelligence (AI) has played an increasingly prominent role within legal, starting as early as the 90’s, when legal databases started incorporating natural language processing to optimise search and retrieval. Leaping…
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Exploring Competition in Cloud and AI Podcast: Episode 5: Dissecting AI Competition
We have teamed up with the LIDC (International League of Competition Law) to share a series of podcasts examining some of the increasingly pressing questions around cloud computing, AI and competition law. Over seven episodes, recorded in November 2024, Ben Evans, Shruti Hiremath and guests will look beyond the current position to identify some of the pressures…
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Telecoms, resilience and corporate governance risk and compliance
James Humphrey-Evans and Nedko Nedev set out the corporate risk factors associated with communications networks, including those exposed by the recent Iberian outage. Along pavements and roads in major cities, you will cross over the groundworks and chambers used by telcos for the networks we all use, just as the utility networks bring power and…
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Exploring Competition in Cloud and AI Podcast: Episode 4: The EU Data Act and Cloud Analogies
We have teamed up with the LIDC (International League of Competition Law) to share a series of podcasts examining some of the increasingly pressing questions around cloud computing, AI and competition law. Over seven episodes, recorded in November 2024, Ben Evans, Shruti Hiremath and guests will look beyond the current position to identify some of the pressures…
Exploring Competition in Cloud and AI Podcast: Episode 3 – Dissecting Cloud Competition
We have teamed up with the LIDC (International League of Competition Law) to share a series of podcasts examining some of the increasingly pressing questions around cloud computing, AI and competition law. Over seven episodes, recorded in November 2024, Ben Evans, Shruti Hiremath and guests will look beyond the current position to identify some of…
Latest News
View more news >ICO consults on guidance for consumer Internet of Things products and services
The ICO is consulting on new guidance for smart products. It points out that from smart speakers and fitness trackers to Wi-Fi fridges and interconnected air fryers, smart products often collect large amounts of personal information from users, including sensitive information, so manufacturers and developers must ensure their products are designed with data protection in…
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Super-complaints regime for online safety due to come into force on 31 December 2025
The Online Safety Act 2023 established the basis for creation of an online safety super-complaints regime. The process will allow for complaints about systemic issues (features or conduct of regulated services) to be raised with the regulator where those issues are, appear to be, or present a material risk of: For the online safety super-complaints…
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This Week’s Techlaw News Round-Up
UK law Data (Use and Access) Bill finally passes through Parliament and heads for Royal of Assent The Data (Use and Access) Bill finally completed its passage through the UK parliament on 11 June 2025. It was the third attemot at data protection reform in the UK and this final attempt was subject to a…
Ofcom opens nine new investigations under Online Safety Act 2023
Ofcom has opened formal investigations into online discussion board 4chan and seven file-sharing services – Im.ge, Krakenfiles, Nippybox, Nippydrive, Nippyshare, Nippyspace and Yolobit. Ofcom has not received responses to its statutory information requests, to which services are legally required to respond. It also says that it has received complaints about the potential for illegal content…
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Ofcom’s strategic approach to AI
Ofcom has issued a report how it is supporting the safe innovation and use of artificial intelligence across the sectors it regulates, and streamlining the way it works. Smarter communications The industries Ofcom regulates have technology and innovation at their heart. As technologies evolve, new opportunities emerge that have the potential to drive better outcomes…
Latest Cases
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Another Chinese court finds that AI-generated images can be protected by copyright: the Changshu People’s Court and the ‘half heart’ case
Chinese courts take a different approach to the issue of AI generating copyright protected images, the DLA Piper team reports. On 7 March 2025, the Changshu People’s Court (in China’s Jiangsu province) announced that it had recently concluded a case on the topical issue of whether AI-generated works can be protected by copyright. In the…
Monster Jackpot wins the day
The High Court has recently considered a dispute arising from a miscommunication regarding the claimant’s winnings on an online game. The claimant in Durber v PPB Entertainment Ltd [2025] EWHC 498 (KB) played the Wild Hatter game in October 2020 – a two-part game involving a fruit machine and a wheel of fortune. After spinning…
Court of Appeal dismisses appeal in EE v Virgin Mobile case
The Court of Appeal has recently dismissed the appeal in EE Ltd v Virgin Mobile Telecoms Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 70. The case arose in the context of a dispute between EE and Virgin Mobile. VM had stated that EE’s claim was for loss of profit and, therefore, the claim was excluded by the following…
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High Court rules on targeting advertising to “recovering online gambling addict”
The High Court has ruled in the case of RTM v Bonne Terre Ltd and Another EWHC 111 (KB). The claimant RTM described himself as a recovering online gambling addict. He was a private individual with no national profile. He was anonymised in the litigation because of the risk that the privacy interests he was…
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GDPR and rail transport: gender identity is not necessary data for the purchase of a transport ticket
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in Case C‑394/23 Mousse v CNIL and SNCF that asking customers to state their gender title (Mr or Ms) when buying train tickets is not necessary for the contract and may violate GDPR rules, especially the principle of data minimisation. Mousse (a LGTB association) complained…
Latest Event Reports
View more event reports >The SCL AI Conference: Key Takeaways
Mauricio Figueroa summarises the key points from the SCL AI Conference hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills on 8th October. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics, trainees, in-house lawyers, and civil society representatives gathered at Herbert Smith Freehills’ offices in London for the annual Society for Computers and Law AI conference. The event brought together experts to explore the…
SCL 50th Anniversary Conference 2023 – Rising Star Impression
Victor Gurr, Trainee Solicitor, Gisby Harrison Solicitors was nominated to attend the recent SCL 50th Anniversary Conference on 10 October 2023 as a tech law “rising star”. “Rising stars” are invited to record their impressions of the Conference in any form they choose (in previous years these have been event reports, infographs and even poems!). These…
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SCL 50th Anniversary Conference Event Report: “The Dragon Under the Sofa and other stories”
What separates humanity from technology? The sudden omniscience of ChatGPT in November 2022 has prompted a good deal of philosophising on that question with the apparent gap between the human and the machine growing ever less defined. There is as yet little common ground on where the boundary lies but one oft cited difference is…
The SCL 50th Anniversary Conference – a visual overview
Gerald Brent, Associate, Addleshaw Goddard, provides a visual summary of some of the key elements from the recent SCL 50th Anniversary Conference….
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Key Takeaways from the SCL Privacy and DP Group Event: Ad Tech – Bring Everyone to the Table
Speakers Anita Bapat (Kemp Little LLP) Tom O’Flynn (Google) James Evan (Verizon media) Alex Abrahams (DMGT) Karishma Brahmbhatt (Allen & Overy LLP) Event Overview With ad-tech a key focus for data protection authorities such as the ICO and CNIL, panellists James, Alex and Tom methodically described ad-tech infrastructure, and the various players involved within the…
