Communication meaning

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) revamped the legal regime regulating covert surveillance by public authorities. IPA 2016 superseded large parts of the framework previously, though not solely, contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000). See Practice Note: The regulation of intelligence gathering—an introductory guide. This note outlines the offences introduced by IPA 2016. For details of general sentencing limits in a magistrates’ court, see Practice Note: Sentences imposed following conviction—General limits on magistrates’ courts powers to impose custodial sentences following conviction... Section Offence Statutory defence Maximum sentence IPA 2016, s 3 — Unlawful interception: a person, by conduct in the UK, deliberately intercepts a communication during its transmission without lawful authority. Defence: where the individual has the right to control the operation or use of the system, or had that person’s express or implied consent to carry out the interception. Maximum sentence: on summary conviction, a fine; on indictment, up to two years’ imprisonment and/or a...

This Checklist This Checklist consolidates obligations under the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA 2017), alongside related guidance on preventing the facilitation of tax evasion. It further includes recommended actions reflecting best practice. It signposts pertinent Precedents that you may adopt or tailor to achieve compliance in full with these obligations and suggestions. A section allows you to indicate clearly completion of each requirement, with another for comments or recording action points. For further guidance, refer to Practice Note: Failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion—compliance issues...

This checklist outlines the competition law factors that matter for corporate transactions... Preliminary considerations Before approaching the other party, it is vital to: Assemble a deal team and set up clear lines of communication across all relevant parts of the business. You may need specialist advisers, depending on PR needs, anticipated complexity or regulatory matters, for example: lobbying/PR specialists economists accountants Be careful with document creation (internal and external) and with public and internal statements Manage expectations, including any potential competition issues and early timing considerations Confirm that the proposed transaction has a legitimate objective Consider preserving legal privilege for relevant communications (see further, Legal privilege in EU competition cases) Issues before and during negotiation From the point a deal is contemplated and throughout negotiations, be mindful of risks, particularly avoiding any possibility of collusion and not creating ‘hostages to fortune’ that competition authorities could...

This decision tree sets out a logical route for deciding whether you may undertake email marketing and, if so, who you can contact. It is just as applicable to text and SMS activity. Separate trees cover postal and live telephone direct marketing—see: Direct marketing decision tree—postal—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—live telephone calls—data protection. Of all marketing channels, electronic marketing is the most demanding from a regulatory perspective. You must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations 2003 (PECR 2003). PECR 2003 applies different rules to different electronic marketing methods, depending on your audience and the goods/services being promoted. You must also meet the relevant UK GDPR obligations. For more guidance, see the following Practice Notes: Direct marketing compliance—Electronic mail How to handle personal data for direct marketing Direct marketing—UK GDPR and PECR 2003 interplay What is electronic mail direct marketing? Direct marketing is the communication, by any means, of...

This decision tree sets out a logical route to assess whether you may carry out postal direct marketing and, if so, who you can target. For other types of marketing, refer to: Direct marketing decision tree—email and other electronic mail marketing—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—live telephone calls—data protection. Direct marketing is the communication—by any means—of advertising or marketing material directed at specific individuals. Note 1—personal data and corporate targets Postal marketing addressed to named individuals taken from your customer database involves processing personal data. The scope of personal data is broad enough to capture business-to-business marketing, particularly post sent to named individuals in their professional role: ‘Personal data’ covers any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person...

This decision tree outlines a logical route for deciding whether you can carry out live telephone marketing and, if permitted, who you may contact. For guidance on other forms of marketing, see: Direct marketing decision tree—postal—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—email and other electronic mail marketing—data protection. Direct marketing refers to the communication (by any means) of advertising or promotional material directed at specific individuals. Live or automated telephone calls? This decision tree is not intended for automated calls, as the rules governing automated calls are far more stringent than those for live calls. You must not make automated marketing calls to an individual unless they have given explicit consent to receive that precise type of call from you. General marketing consent, or consent applicable only to live calls, is insufficient—it must expressly include automated calls. Consequently, there is little value in a decision tree for automated marketing calls—this tree covers live marketing calls only. See Practice Note: Direct marketing compliance—Automated calls. Claims management services ...

Thomas v Cheltenham Borough Council [2025] EWCA Civ 259 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment will interest practitioners dealing with prior approval applications for electronic communication developments, and, more generally, those pursuing public law challenges about material considerations and appeals against High Court decisions. It reviews the Supreme Court's guidance in Friends of the Earth v Secretary of State for Transport [2021] UKSC 52 on three types of information that can amount to a material consideration. These include: information that legislation or policy, either expressly or by necessary implication, obliges the decision-maker to take into account or to ignore; and information that the decision-maker is entitled to consider where, in their own judgement and discretion, they regard it as appropriate. The judgment underlines that, within this third class, a decision-maker may choose not to refer to something others might regard as pertinent; yet, unless it was so plainly relevant that no rational decision-maker could have left it out of account, the omission to have regard...

In this issue: Information technology Internet Media Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Reputation management Telecommunications LexTalk®TMT: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Information technology Commission consults on draft Guidance on EU Cyber Resilience Act The European Commission has opened a consultation on a draft Communication offering direction on how to interpret and apply in practice Regulation (EU) 2024/2847, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (EU CRA). In line with Article 26(1) EU CRA, this non-binding guidance seeks to support manufacturers, developers and other stakeholders in understanding their obligations and fostering a harmonised approach across the EU, with a particular emphasis on helping microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises meet compliance needs. the scope of the EU CRA, including free and open-source software and what constitutes a substantial modification; support period obligations; designation of important and...

In this issue: Regulatory framework for medicinal products Research and development Data protection and life sciences Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Regulatory framework for medicinal products Commission releases Communication to boost biotechnology and biomanufacturing The European Commission has issued a Communication on building the future with nature, outlining the obstacles and constraints in the EU’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing arena and setting out a suite of targeted measures to invigorate biotechnology and biomanufacturing across the EU. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) welcomed the Commission’s Communication and urged the Commission to bring forward, in its next mandate, a comprehensive health and life science strategy so that European patients can access innovative new treatments and technologies. See: LNB News 20/03/2024 81. MEPs adopt proposal to improve EU pharmaceutical legislation The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee has adopted its proposals...

Practice Note This Practice Note explores what amounts to a protected disclosure for the whistleblowing protections in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), into which the relevant provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA 1998) have been incorporated. It addresses the general features of disclosures, when they qualify as qualifying disclosures, the need for a whistleblower to hold a reasonable belief that a relevant category of wrongdoing has occurred, and that the disclosure serves the public interest, where appropriate and necessary. It further considers when qualifying disclosures obtain protection and identifies the prescribed persons (people) to whom a disclosure may properly be directed. In addition, the Practice Note summarises the reporting obligations placed on certain prescribed persons to produce an annual written report concerning the workers’ disclosures received by them...

This Practice Note serves as a practical ‘how to’ for delivering a compliant B2C telephone and print direct marketing campaign, and points you to relevant materials. It distils the key principles and legal rules governing direct marketing, and explains how they affect print and telephone activity. It also offers hands-on advice on the steps and issues to weigh up before dispatching marketing mailings or placing marketing calls to consumers. Given the variety of routes available for a direct marketing initiative, different legal considerations may arise depending on the campaign’s design, the copy used, the exact media chosen and the jurisdictions in scope. This Practice Note does not cover digital forms of direct marketing, such as social media advertising, mobile and virtual advertising. For a ‘how to’ on running a compliant direct marketing campaign in a digital setting, see Practice Note: How to run a compliant direct marketing campaign—digital. What is direct marketing? ‘Direct marketing’ means the communication, by any method, of advertising or marketing material directed at...

Film and TV glossary A–B Film and TV glossary E–H Film and TV glossary I–L Film and TV glossary M–P Film and TV glossary R–S Film and TV glossary T–W CAP Code for non-broadcast media The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (the CAP Code) serves as the principal framework governing non-broadcast adverts, promotional sales activity and direct marketing messages. It is drafted by the Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP), a self-regulatory body whose membership comprises organisations representing advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and media industries. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) polices the CAP Code and may require the withdrawal or amendment of any advertisement that contravenes these standards. Refer to Practice Note: Advertising law and regulation. Channel 4 Channel 4 operates as a ‘publisher-broadcaster’: it produces no programmes internally, commissioning content from production companies across the UK. Cinematograph film Under the Copyright Act 1956 (CA 1956), films gained protection as...

Precedent ICT (information and communication technology) risk assessment and risk management plan This Precedent ICT (information and communication technology) risk assessment and risk management plan lets you record risks linked to any proposed ICT development and explain how those risks will be handled. It is pre-populated with examples, which you can easily delete if needed...

1 General information Date complaint received [ Enter date ] How was the complaint received? ☐ Email ☐ Letter ☐ In person ☐ Telephone ☐ Other—[ please specify ] When replying to the complainant, choose the most appropriate communication method. Date complaint acknowledged [ Enter a date that should be 30 days from the date you received the complaint. ] Proposed deadline for responding to complaint [ Enter a date that meets the expectation that you will handle the complaint without any delay. ] Person investigating complaint and completing this record [ Provide details of the individual who investigated the complaint and completed this report. This could be your data protection officer. ] Date of report [ Enter date ] 2 Complainant Name of data subject ...

Person leading strategy review [ insert name ] (strategy lead) Coordinator [ insert name of a person who will assist with coordination ] Steering group [ insert names of personnel responsible for direction of strategy implementation ] Step number 1 Start strategic review process Step Actions Set a date for a strategy away day, allowing at least 12 weeks’ notice. Discuss and agree: who will lead the process who will attend as delegates whether an external facilitator is needed Book an appropriate venue. Complete the Timeline section for the rest of this plan. Begin the Precedent: Strategy away day—logistics planner. Timeline N/A (but start at least 14 weeks before the final strategy is required) 2 Initial communication and calendar bookings Step Actions If using an external facilitator, confirm their services and agree...

The organisation must ensure it fully complies with the TPS Assured (Call Centre) Handbook 2016, which specifies that a call centre must disclose its own organisation’s identity whenever requested by a recipient. Regulation 24 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) provides the following below: 24 Information to be provided for the purposes of regulations 19, 20 and 21 (1) Where a public electronic communications service is used to transmit a communication for direct marketing, the person using, or causing the use of, that service shall make sure the following information is supplied with that communication— in relation to a communication to which regulations 19 (automated calling systems) and 20 (facsimile machines) apply, the particulars mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) and (b); in relation to a communication to which regulation 21 (telephone calls) applies, the particulars mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) and, if the recipient of the call so requests, those mentioned in paragraph (2)(b)...