TechLaw Chat

Surveillance tech and nosey neighbours

February 16, 2022 15:48 - 8 minutes - 8.19 MB

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 advers...

Child safety on a video-sharing platform

January 11, 2022 11:31 - 8 minutes - 8.18 MB

As of now, the UK has not enacted online harms legislation, and social media platforms in general are under no statutory duty to protect children from harmful content. However, providers of video-sharing platforms do have statutory obligations in that regard, set out in Part 4B of the Communications Act 2003 (added to the Act by amendment in 2020). Amongst other things, section 368Z1 of the Act requires providers of such platforms to make appropriate measures to protect under-18s fr...

Kris Proposes Drone Delivery

December 21, 2021 12:07 - 9 minutes - 8.39 MB

This end-of-year episode explores the viability of delivery of Christmas gifts by drone in UK airspace. Someone has ambitious plans involving the precision drop of parcels down chimneys. We discuss the legal risks that arise and the hurdles that will have to be jumped if the Civil Aviation Authority is to authorise that plan. Further reading: The primary guidance document for those wishing to operate unmanned aircraft systems within the UK is CAP722. It sets out the relevant law ...

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

November 11, 2021 17:19 - 8 minutes - 7.79 MB

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 t...

The Emperor's New Tokens?

July 29, 2021 14:50 - 8 minutes - 7.5 MB

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 purchas...

Keeping it ethical

July 08, 2021 15:15 - 9 minutes - 9.14 MB

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 a...

At the AI's discretion

April 07, 2021 09:37 - 8 minutes - 7.76 MB

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 i...

Computer says "Go!"

March 18, 2021 11:04 - 9 minutes - 9.15 MB

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 li...

The Black Box problem

February 05, 2021 15:27 - 9 minutes - 8.9 MB

AI can improve how businesses make decisions. But how does a business explain the rationale behind AI decisions to its customers? In this episode, we explore this issue through the scenario of a bank that uses AI to evaluate loan applications and needs to be able to explain to customers why an application may have been rejected. We do so with the help of Andrew Burgess, founder of Greenhouse Intelligence ([email protected]). About Andrew: He has worked as an advisor to C-l...

Track it with a Smart Contract?

December 22, 2020 09:02 - 9 minutes - 12.5 MB

This podcast explores the benefits and limitations of Smart Contracts in the context of human-provided services by considering the practicalities of using Smart Contracts to regulate the contractual relationship between brands and social media influencers. Further reading: For a more detailed discussion of smart contracts, see the Legal Statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts, November 2019, published by the LawTech Delivery Panel UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (downloadable h...

You've been hacked. Now pay us £££! (Part 2)

December 07, 2020 14:18 - 8 minutes - 11.6 MB

This podcast, which continues the story started in Episode 3, considers the liability implications arising out the exfiltration of a client's confidential technical data following a cyber attack. For further reading, we recommend: Decode.legal's excellent primer on Cybersecurity for Lawyers. Schneier's "click here to kill everybody", a thought provoking discussion of present and future cyber attacks and their consequences.

You've been hacked. Now pay us £££!

November 04, 2020 19:35 - 9 minutes - 22.1 MB

Response to a ransomware attack and threat to confidential data.

You've been hacked. Now pay us £££! (Part 1)

November 04, 2020 19:35 - 9 minutes - 22.1 MB

This podcast explores some immediate actions that might be needed where an apparent ransomware attack threatens the leak of highly confidential technical data. For this podcast, Matthew and Iain are joined by Michael Brown of Northwall Cyber. For further reading, we recommend: Decode.legal's excellent primer on Cybersecurity for Lawyers. Schneier's "click here to kill everybody", a thought provoking discussion of present and future cyber attacks and their consequences.

Give me my Bitcoin back!

October 21, 2020 11:26 - 12 minutes - 28.9 MB

This podcast explores the legal remedies that are available when Bitcoin are misappropriated, and some of the practical challenges of enforcement. For a more detailed analysis of the treatment of cryptoassets as property, see the Legal Statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts, November 2019, published by the LawTech Delivery Panel UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (downloadable here). The legal basis for recovery of fraudulently misappropriated Bitcoin and factors that are engaged on ...

Is your bot talking $£!? about me again?

October 07, 2020 13:39 - 8 minutes - 18.7 MB

This podcast is intended as an introduction to issues that arise when an AI bot creates defamatory content. For detailed commentary on this specialist area of law, see: Gatley on Libel and Slander (12th Ed, 2017) and Duncan and Neill on Defamation (4th Ed, 2015 – with new addition forthcoming). For an overview, see our chapter on ‘Liability for Economic Harm’ in The Law of Artificial Intelligence (2020, forthcoming). Cases relevant to auto-generated content include: Bunt v Tilly ...

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