TechLaw Chat

Matthew Lavy & Iain Munro

A series of short podcasts exploring emerging and topical issues in technology law.

  1. 16/02/2022

    Surveillance tech and nosey neighbours

    As increasingly sophisticated video and audio recording devices become available to householders at only moderate cost, deployment of such surveillance tech by householders is becoming ubiquitous. However, those deploying these devices do not always consider the impact of their surveillance tech on neighbouring properties or the legal ramifications of that impact. This episode explores this theme, and considers the causes of action and practical steps available to a neighbour adversely affected by overly intrusive surveillance tech.  References: For a couple of illustrative cases that have reached the Courts, see Fairhurst v Woodard [2021] 10 WLUK 151 and Woolley & Woolley v Akbar or Akram [2017] SC EDIN 7.ICO guidance is available for people being filmed and those using domestic CCTV. Some discussion of the 'household exemption' is found in František Ryneš v Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů [2015] 1 W.L.R. 2607.Those in neighbour disputes should consider these steps, including using a mediation service.

  2. 11/01/2022

    Child safety on a video-sharing platform

    Protecting children from harmful video-streaming content

  3. 21/12/2021

    Kris Proposes Drone Delivery

    How UK drone legislation would affect modernisation of Santa's deliveries

  4. 11/11/2021

    Data protection representative actions: door slammed shut or door ajar?

    The long-anticipated Supreme Court decision in Lloyd v Google [2021] UKSC 50 was handed down on 10 November 2021. Reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and reinstating the first instance decision of Warby J, the Supreme Court held that Richard Lloyd could not pursue a damages claim as representative of the class of individuals affected by Google's alleged breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to the so-called "safari workaround". The reasoning is involved, and the Judgment bears reading in full. In essence, however, the court held that establishing a right to damages for breach of the Data Protection Act 1998, and quantifying those damages, involved a claimant-by-claimant analysis that, in each case, must identify the breach affecting that claimant, the loss suffered by that claimant, and the causal connection between breach and loss. The claims were accordingly unsuitable in principle for a representative action. The Judgment also addressed in some detail the nature of damages for breach of data protection legislation, and the nature and scope of representative actions under CPR 19.6. In this episode we explore some of the ramifications of the decision through a scenario involving a data breach at an online marketplace. The Judgment may be found here, and a press summary here.

  5. 29/07/2021

    The Emperor's New Tokens?

    Non-fungible tokens (or 'NFTs') are a blockchain-based mechanism for uniquely identifying digital assets, and verifying both authenticity and ownership. An increasingly popular use case for NFTs (albeit it is only one of several use cases) involves the creation and sale of digital art. Notwithstanding that the NFT marketplace for digital art is dynamic and growing (with some NFTs selling at auction for vast sums), the legal basis of NFTs and, critically, the nature of what a purchaser actually acquires when purchasing an NFT artwork, are not universally understood. We explore these issues in this episode, which concerns the purchase of an NFT image for commercial use. Further reading: A useful introduction to NFTs, together with links for further reading, can be found on the Ethereum website here: https://ethereum.org/en/nft/.An entertaining explanation of the phenomenon of digital art NFTs can be found here: https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq.For those who want to dig into the detail, the most commonly used technical standard for NFTs is currently ERC-721, which is explained here: https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/standards/tokens/erc-721/.

  6. 08/07/2021

    Keeping it ethical

    AI companies need to engage with the ethical implications of their systems. That involves planning ahead: in this episode, we therefore look at the European Union’s proposed AI regulation, and – with the help of our guest, Patricia Shaw – discuss its application in an EdTech context. The proposed regulation is available here. Patricia Shaw is CEO of Beyond Reach Consulting Ltd, providing AI/data ethics strategy, public policy engagement, bespoke AI/data ethics risk and governance advice, and advisory board services, across financial services, public sector (Health- and EdTech), and smart cities.    Trish is passionate about Responsible AI and is an expert advisor to IEEE’s Ethical Certification Program for Autonomous Intelligent Systems and P7003 (algorithmic bias) standards programme, a Fellow of ForHumanity contributing to the Independent Audit of AI Systems. She contributed to The Institute for Ethical AI in Education’s Ethical Framework for AI in Education, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts having been on the Advisory Board for the ‘Power over information’project concerning regulation of online harms.   A non-practising Solicitor, public speaker, and author, Trish is also Chair of the Trustee Board of the Society for Computers and Law, Member of the Board of iTechlaw as well as Vice Chair of their AI committee.  She is listed on 2021 - 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™.

  7. 07/04/2021

    At the AI's discretion

    Where a contract confers a discretion on one party that materially affects the rights of its counterparty,  the discretion must be exercised rationally. The Supreme Court held in Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd [2015] UKSC 17 that exercising a discretion rationally involves (i) taking the right things (and only the right things) into account, and (ii) avoiding a decision that no reasonable decision-maker could have reached. In this episode, we explore how those principles might operate in the context of a discretion exercised automatically by a machine learning algorithm. We do so in the context of a fraud detection algorithm and an online farmers' market somewhere in East Anglia. Further reading: This episode was inspired by Tom Whittaker's thought-provoking article on the case of TF Global Markets (UK) (trading as ThinkMarkets)) v Financial Ombudsman Service Limited [2020] EWHC 3178 (Admin). The article may be found here: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ad5569ea-af1a-4040-b596-a6a29b3c73b0Supreme Court decision in Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd [2015] UKSC 17: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2013-0099.htmlAnyone with any doubts as to the prevalence of AI-based fraud detection systems might like to do this: https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=ai+fraud+detection. There is no problem in principle with using such tools. The issue (in a contractual context) is how their outputs are translated into discretionary decisions.

  8. 18/03/2021

    Computer says "Go!"

    Fully autonomous vehicles may be a few years away, but cars offering so-called “eyes off/hands off”, or “Level 3” automation, whereby the car is sufficiently capable that the driver’s role is limited to taking over control when requested by the car to do so, is expected to be commercially available in the very near future. In this episode we flash forward to summer 2023 and an accident involving a Level 3 autonomous vehicle. We consider how existing legal frameworks cope with the liability issues that arise when AI takes control of the driving but where the driver remains in the safety chain as a fallback for when the automation cannot cope.   Further reading: Riley-Smith QC and McCormick, ‘Liability for Physical Damage’ in The Law of Artificial Intelligence (2020), which helped to inspire our scenario.Glassbrook, Northey and Milligan, A Practical Guide to the Law of Driverless Cars (2019).The hack involved in this scenario: https://interestingengineering.com/teslas-autopilot-can-be-tricked-in-just-a-split-second-through-this-method

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About

A series of short podcasts exploring emerging and topical issues in technology law.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Lavy & Iain Munro
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2022
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (c) 2020, Matthew Lavy & Iain Munro
  • Show Website
    TechLaw Chat