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One of the most controversial parts of a controversial act has recently come into force. Part III of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 allows public authorities to require an individual to decrypt encrypted data or, more ominously, to disclose the data key.

A company listed on the London Stock Exchange must consider whether IT outsourcing transactions to which it intends to be a party require an announcement or shareholder approval under the rules governing the continuing obligations of listed companies. The UK Listing Authority has provided useful guidance on assessing the applicability of such rules to outsourcing agreements.

In 2002 a series of reports highlighted the failure of major IT projects in the public sector and the problems encountered in IT procurements which followed the Private Finance Initiative model. A guidance document published by the Office of Government Commerce identifies a number of commercial principles that underpin large-scale IT procurements and sets out a balanced approach to IT contracting.

Offshore outsourcing of IT services can realize significant cost savings and give companies a competitive advantage: India, the Philippines and China are all popular outsourcing destinations. However, many factors can reduce the projected gains. This form of outsourcing also creates additional business risks associated with issues such as geopolitical stability and business continuity.

In a recent case Justice Laddie confirmed some of the principles from Durant, in which the Court of Appeal adopted a narrow interpretation of certain key terms under the Data Protection Act 1998. Considered alongside Durant, the case therefore provides some further helpful guidance with regard to some of the fundamental principles of the act.

Disaster recovery and business continuity planning requires the taking and management of some form of back-up or replica copy of the company's information and data, which inevitably means needing to address the potential impact of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the more recent Freedom of Information Act 2000.

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