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…
This Week’s Techlaw News Round-up
UK law Regulating quantum technology applications government response to the RHC The UK National Quantum Strategy was published in 2023 and aims to “create a national and international regulatory framework that supports innovation and the ethical use of quantum technologies, and protects UK capabilities and national security”. The previous government commissioned the Regulatory Horizons Council…
Court of Justice rules in another case brought by Max Schrems
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in Case C-446/21 | Schrems. It said that an online social network such as Facebook cannot use all the personal data obtained for targeted advertising, without restriction as to time and without distinction as to type of data. In 2018, Meta Platforms Ireland started using…
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CJEU considers police access to data in a mobile telephone
The CJEU has issued its ruling in Case C-548/21 | Bezirkshauptmannschaft Landeck. The Austrian police seized the mobile telephone of the recipient of a parcel following the discovery that the parcel contained 85 grams of cannabis. The police then tried unsuccessfully to unlock the mobile telephone to access the data it contained. The police were…
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The Procurement Act 2023 and its implications for tech procurement

The long-awaited Procurement Act is scheduled to come into force in February next year promising a more flexible regime. Professor Albert Sanchez-Graells picks out some of the challenges it will pose for those working in public-sector procurement. After a recently announced 4-month delay to its ‘go live’ date, the Procurement Act 2023 is now due…
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This Week’s Techlaw News Round-up
UK law New rule restricting broadcast ads for qualifying cryptoassets in force The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) has published a new rule that explicitly bans ads for certain types of cryptoasset products from being broadcast to mainstream, non-specialist audiences. These products were already subject to such a restriction under rule 14.5.4 of the…
IA Before AI: Facilitating Generative AI Adoption within Legal Teams

Amanda Chaboryk and Nicholas Cook highlight the importance of reviewing your information architecture before using your data for generative AI The advent of artificial intelligence (AI), and generative AI (GenAI) in particular, has resulted in a dawning era of transformative potential in the legal domain. It has been met with a range of reactions from…
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Companies sign EU AI Pact to drive trustworthy and safe AI development
The European Commission has announced that over a hundred companies have signed the EU AI Pact and its voluntary pledges. These include multinational corporations and European SMEs. They represent many sectors including IT, healthcare, banking, automotive and aeronautics. The Pact is aimed at supporting industry’s voluntary commitments to start applying the principles of the EU’s…
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Irish Data Protection Commission fines Meta Ireland €91 million
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has announced its final decision following an inquiry into Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (MPIL). In March 2019, MPIL notified the DPC that it had inadvertently stored certain passwords of social media users in ‘plaintext’ on its internal systems (that is, without cryptographic protection or encryption). MPIL also published information regarding…
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Online accommodation reservation platforms
The Court of Justice has ruled in Case C-264/23 | Booking.com and Booking.com (Deutschland) that price parity clauses cannot, in principle, be classified as “ancillary restraints” under EU competition law. Booking.com is incorporated under Netherlands law with its registered office in Amsterdam. It offers a worldwide online intermediation service to reserve accommodation. Hotels pay commission…