Contact | Search |

Tag: ella-ditri

TikTok Inc v ICO: a preliminary issue decision on personal data processing for artistic purposes

Posted on by Anna Weeden

On 31 July, the Upper Tribunal dismissed TikTok’s argument that its processing of personal data was carried out for artistic purposes and provided guidance regarding the interpretation of “for special purposes” in s 156 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

The ICO’s fine and TikTok’s appeal

On 4 April 2023, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined TikTok £12.7 million for breaches of data protection law relating to the processing of underage children’s personal data.

TikTok appealed to the First-tier Tribunal on several grounds. It argued that at least some of its platform delivery processing was done for artistic purposes, and that the ICO was prohibited from issuing a penalty notice because s 156 of the DPA 2018 applied. Section 156 of the DPA 2018 requires the ICO to fulfil certain preconditions (namely obtaining court approval) before it can issue a penalty notice “with respect to the processing of personal data for the special purposes”, defined in s 174 as journalistic, academic, artistic, or literary purposes. TikTok claimed its data processing was sufficiently “proximate” to users’ artistic expression that it fell within s 156, and that the ICO had acted ultra vires in issuing the MPN without fulfilling the preconditions.

The First-tier Tribunal determined this challenge should be heard as a preliminary issue, but ultimately dismissed it in June 2025. The Upper Tribunal upheld this decision. In doing so, it provided helpful guidance on how s 156 of the DPA 2018 should be interpreted, and interesting commentary on the nature of TikTok’s data processing:

  • The Upper Tribunal held that the ordinary meaning of “for the special purposes” applied, and that “for” connotes deliberate intention. It dismissed TikTok’s argument that its processing of personal data to facilitate users’ free expression was sufficiently “proximate” to the special purposes (and that there was sufficient directness of purpose) that its processing could be considered “for” the special purposes defined in s 174.
  • The Upper Tribunal dismissed TikTok’s argument that TikTok’s recommender system effectively promoted artistic content because it advantages content made using TikTok’s creation and editing tools, noting that the creation and editing tools can also be used to make non-creative content and the recommender system cannot distinguish between creative and non-creative content. The Upper Tribunal held that “even when the system shares a video that is artistic or has artistic features it cannot do so for an artistic purpose because it is unaware of, and indifferent to, the artistic character of what it is sharing. TikTok is not therefore processing “for special purposes” (even as a subsidiary purpose), even if much of the content hosted on the app is itself artistic.”

Key takeaway

Companies should not assume that s 156 DPA 2018 applies where they process journalistic, academic, artistic, or literary content. In order for s 156 DPA 2018 to apply, the processing of the personal data in question needs to have been conducted directly “for” journalistic, academic, artistic, or literary purposes. If an algorithm is blind to whether content is artistic, it cannot be processing personal data for artistic purposes, even if much of the content being processed is artistic.

If you would like more information, please reach out to one of our lawyers, or if you would like to keep up to date on the latest in data protection, please subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, The Data Download.

The Sporting Events Bill: a legislative framework for major sporting events

Posted on by Anna Weeden

The Sporting Events Bill, which establishes a legislative framework for future major international sporting events hosted in the UK, is currently moving through Parliament. Its key provisions relate to ticket touting, advertising and trading in restricted areas, unauthorised association with an event, transport and funding.

What is the Sporting Events Bill?

The Sporting Events Bill (“the Bill”), introduced to the House of Lords on 14 May 2026, offers a common legislative framework for future major sporting events. While in the past, Parliament passed event-specific legislation such as the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act 2020 to plug any necessary legislative gaps, the Bill establishes an event-agnostic legislative framework that will govern major sporting events hosted by the UK going forward. This would likely include the upcoming men’s UEFA EURO 2028 football tournament, and, if the UK’s bid for it is successful, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035.

This new framework aims to ensure that the UK remains competitive when entering bid processes for hosting rights for major international sporting events. The goal is to make it clear that the UK is able to fulfil any required commitments to sporting event owners during the bidding process (for example, regarding protections in place for the event), and to do so efficiently without the uncertain and cumbersome process associated with passing bespoke primary legislation.

Which sporting events will be covered?

The framework will apply to events held wholly or partly in the UK on an irregular basis which are of significant international interest, and would bring social or economic benefits to the whole or part of the UK, and to events likely to facilitate holding such events (clause 3 of the Bill). For example, while UEFA European Championships, FIFA Football World Cups and Rugby World Cups may be in scope, events that regularly take place in the UK such as the Wimbledon Championships or FA Cup Final are not in scope of the Bill.

Key Provisions

The Bill includes provisions in respect of the following issues:

Ticket touting (clauses 5-7 and Schedule 1)Under the Bill, it is a criminal offence to sell, offer to sell, expose for sale, or advertise an event ticket without authorisation in a public place, in the course of a business, or to make a profit.
Advertising in restricted areas (clauses 8-10 and Schedule 2)Under the Bill, it is a criminal offence to carry out an advertising activity in a restricted advertising zone during a specified period, or to arrange or permit for this to be done. An advertising activity is anything done to promote a product, service or business to members of the public who are in a restricted advertising zone or watching or listening to a broadcast of the event.
Trading in restricted areas (clauses 11-13 and Schedule 3)The Bill sets out a criminal offence which partially mirrors the ‘advertising in restricted areas’ offence in respect of trading. Trading activities include (i) selling or offering or exposing a product for sale, (ii) providing or offering to provide a service or providing entertainment for gain or reward, and (iii) appealing for money or other property (except begging).
Unauthorised association with the event (clauses 14-16 and Schedule 4)The Bill prohibits a person acting in the course of a business from engaging in the unauthorised use of a representation (of any kind) in a manner likely to suggest to the public an association between the sporting event and goods or services (or a person providing them) during the specified period.  

Those guilty of the ticket touting and advertising and trading in restricted areas provisions can be fined, and breach of the unauthorised association with the event provision is treated as an infringement of a property right, with various court remedies available.

The Bill also includes provisions to facilitate transport arrangements for events (clause 17 and Schedule 5) and to enable national authorities to provide financial assistance to support sporting events (clause 25).

Event-specific regulations

The Bill has been drafted with built-in flexibility to accommodate the varied requirements of the different sporting events to which it will apply.

Although the Bill offers a framework for issues affecting a broad range of sports, there is an expectation that an appropriate national authority and/or the Secretary of State will introduce regulations applying one or more of the Bill’s provisions to specific sporting events within its scope. Many parts of the provisions are defined by reference to these event-specific regulations, such as the location of the restricted advertising and trading zones in the provisions governing advertising and trading in restricted areas.

There are also various carve-outs and exceptions, and the relevant authorities are empowered to specify further ones by regulation. Authorisations can be granted to ensure that, for example, event sponsors can carry out advertising or trading within a restricted zone.

What happens next?

The Bill was debated during its second reading in the House of Lords on 3 June 2026. We will continue to monitor its progress through Parliament and keep clients informed on key updates.

It is worth noting that there is a separate push to make it illegal for tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events to be resold for more than their original cost. On 19 November 2025, the government published its response to its consultation on the resale of live events tickets, and proposed a draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026.

Those in any way involved with major sporting events, including organisers, sponsors and commercial partners, should consider how they will be affected and take proactive steps to ensure they are prepared once the Bill is ready to come into effect.

Please reach out to Ella Ditri or Mike Glover-Smith for support on this.