Category Archives: Defamation and Privacy
Anna Cox, ‘Emotionally Unstable: Addressing Emotional Distress as a Concrete Injury in Data Breach Cases Post-TransUnion’
ABSTRACT Data breaches and data breach litigation are exponentially on the rise. Plaintiffs whose information is stolen in a data breach often claim emotional distress for fear of future harm the data breach may cause. However, plaintiffs who bring suit in federal court must show that they have suffered an injury in fact for purposes […]
Charlotte Ducuing, ‘Data Protection Without Romance: The Power Asymmetries that the GDPR Does Counter’
ABSTRACT A clear and consensual conceptualization of the power asymmetries that data protection seeks to address is missing. That modern bigness translates into multifaceted power issues results in multiple branches of the law being increasingly called upon to respond, illustrated by the recent adoption of the EU digital package. Such an endeavor requires consistency between […]
‘Michael McDowell rebukes social media platforms for online defamation; but he still has an opportunity to do something about it’
Last week, in his column in the Irish Times, Michael McDowell (pictured right) took social media platforms to task for shirking their responsibilities on defamation. His analysis of the legal issues was, uncharacteristically, incomplete. Even so, he has a golden opportunity to do something practical to address the problem … (more) [Eoin O’Dell, Cearta, 30 […]
Richard Warner, ‘Adequate Privacy: The Place and Importance of Individual Control’
ABSTRACT The long-established individual control conception of informational privacy is that informational privacy requires individual control over what others do with information about one. Leading privacy law scholars have recently inveighed against this conception. They urge us to see informational privacy as a matter of the degree to which information about one is neither known […]
Katherine Nolan, ‘Data Protection’s Intersections: Reconciling Data Protection Requirements with Regulated Data use Beyond the GDPR’
ABSTRACT Lawful data processing is not merely a question of compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. Rather, data processing is often subjected to overlapping regulatory requirements, deriving from multiple legislative instruments. For this reason, understanding the relationship between the GDPR and other legislation which impacts data processing is a crucial component of data protection […]
Ram, Prince, Roberts, Fox and Spector-Bagdady, ‘The Precarious Future of Consumer Genetic Privacy’
ABSTRACT After declaring bankruptcy in March 2025, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company 23andMe sold the data of over 15 million people around the world to TTAM Research Institute, a non-profit created by 23andMe’s founder and long-time CEO. The organization outbid Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which was originally named the successful bidder in the bankruptcy 5 auction. 23andMe’s […]
Timothy Liau, ‘Injunctions Contra Mundum, Jurisdiction, and Standing’
ABSTRACT A gravely ill child is in hospital. A medical view might be taken that, though tragic, it may be in the child’s best interests to die with dignity. The courts are asked to declare authoritatively the permissibility of withdrawing life-support. Should the courts also grant an injunction anonymising the child, or the hospital staff […]
Václav Janeček, ‘Loss of Control over Personal Data as GDPR Damage’
ABSTRACT Our internet activity produces vast amounts of personal data which is collected by online tracking ecosystems, at scale, often in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Against this background, this paper explores whether ‘loss of control over personal data’, which is a typical characterisation of harms suffered by individuals due to illegal […]
Pietro Mattioli, ‘Navigating the Complexities of the DSA’s Enforcement Framework: Sincere Cooperation in Action?’
ABSTRACT The Digital Services Act (DSA) represents an important development in the EU regulation of online services, tackling online disinformation and harmful content. However, its success depends on effective enforcement across the European Union. As the DSA enters its implementation phase, its enforcement regime is under scrutiny, particularly the cooperation mechanisms between Member States’ competent […]
‘How libel firm Carter-Ruck recklessly enabled a $4bn fraud’
In 2016 and 2017, libel firm Carter-Ruck acted for a business called OneCoin, and threatened defamation proceedings against people who alleged OneCoin was a Ponzi scheme and a fraud. In fact OneCoin was a giant Ponzi fraud – second only to Madoff. Plenty of people realised this at the time. So why were Carter-Ruck helping […]