Duty

The 72 page 'A Duty of Loyalty for Privacy Law' by Neil M. Richards and Woodrow Hartzog comments 

Data privacy law fails to stop companies from engaging in self-serving, opportunistic behavior at the expense of those who trust them with their data. This is a problem. Modern tech companies are so entrenched in our lives and have so much control over what we see and click that the self-dealing exploitation of people has now become a major element of the Internet’s business model. 

Academics and policymakers have recently proposed a possible solution: require those entrusted with peoples’ data and online experiences to be loyal to those who trust them. But critics and companies have concerns about a duty of loyalty. What, exactly, would such a duty of loyalty require? What are the goals and limits of such a duty? Should loyalty mean obedience or a pledge to make decisions in peoples’ best interests? What would the substance of the rules implementing the duty look like? 

In this article, we offer a theory of loyalty based upon the risks of digital opportunism in information relationships. Data collectors bound by this duty of loyalty would be obligated to act in the best interests of people exposing their data and online experiences, up to the extent of their exposure. They would be prohibited from designing digital tools and processing data in a way that conflicts with a trusting parties’ best interests. This duty could also be used to set rebuttable presumptions of disloyal activity and act as an interpretive guide for other duties. A duty of loyalty would be a revolution in data privacy law. That’s exactly what is needed to break the cycle of self-dealing ingrained into the current Internet. This Article offers one pathway for us to get there.

UK Animal Tagging

The UK government has launched a consultation about mandatory microchipping of cats, alongside three separate mandatory scanning proposals. Tuk’s Law would make it mandatory for vets to scan cats and dogs for microchips before putting them down; Fern’s Law  would require vets to microchip cats and dogs when brought into a vet practice for the first time; and Gizmo’s Legacy would make it mandatory to scan for microchips when a cat or dog is found dead by the roadside. 

The government states that over a quarter of the UK’s pet cats aren’t microchipped, 'meaning that up to 2.6 million cats will benefit from the new measures'.  Since compulsory dog microchipping was introduced in 2016 around nine million dogs are now microchipped.

In discussing the dog regime the consultation paper states 

 All adverse reactions to microchips, including failed and migrated microchips (those that move within the animal) must be reported to the Secretary of State via the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. The latest data on adverse reactions in dogs from 2019 shows that there were a total of 354 reactions reported out of 540,000 dogs microchipped that year. 98% of reported cases were instances where the microchip had failed or migrated, rather than where implantation had caused health issues. 

In order that dogs are microchipped in a satisfactory way, minimum standards are set for microchips, and for the databases in which the keeper’s details are recorded (see paragraph 18). There are also minimum qualifications for those people who implant microchips. The 2015 Regulations require keepers to register their own details, including name, address, telephone number, and their dog’s details, including name, age and description of dog, and microchip number, on a compliant database. Failure by a keeper to register the dog on a compliant database or to keep their details up to date is an offence under the 2015 Regulations. 

The cost of microchipping a dog varies but it is generally between £15 to £30. Database operators offer different packages but may charge keepers to update a record. 

The 2015 Regulations also set requirements for the databases who register the dogs and their keepers. Databases must:

• have sufficient electronic capacity to store the keepers’ details; 

• back up the data to a secure off-site facility every day; 

• provide information to an authorised person (e.g. Defra, local authority, police); 

• provide information to a registered keeper about their dog; 

• have a system for identifying authorised persons; 

• have a system for identifying keepers of registered dogs; 

• maintain records to demonstrate that they are complying with the 2015 Regulations; 

• have a system for answering the telephone and responding to online requests; 

• be able to redirect online and telephone requests relating to dogs whose details are recorded on other databases; and 

• make available to other database operators the necessary information that allows other databases to determine which microchip numbers are recorded on their database. 

. There are currently 15 compliant databases that register dogs in England. Anyone enquiring about the registration of a microchip number can simply type the microchip number into any one of the compliant databases’ internet-based search facilities, or ‘lookup tools’, and the result will display the name of the database to which the number is registered.