Tools, guidance and further reading

Cybersecurity
IT & Ethics

The Bar Council is highly involved in how IT and new technology impacts the life of the Bar, and:

  • provides advice to the Bar in relation to data protection and information security
  • among other things, acts on legal policy related to IT, or with an IT aspect, to ensure that the Bar’s recommendations and concerns are heard by government
The issues we work on: 
  • Monitoring and being actively involved in IT developments and their implications for the legal services market and the practising Bar
  • Providing advice to the Bar on IT matters
  • Leading on relevant consultation responses relating to: digital infrastructure; digitisation of existing processes; IT and court reform; artificial intelligence and new and developing technologies
Small business guidance
NCSC guidance for small-to medium enterprise (SME) owners

You can protect the personal information you hold by using the resources National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have created. SMEs can take these 2 simple steps to help protect themselves from a variety of cyber threats:

  1. Get a free Cyber Action Plan. Answer a few simple questions, and in less than five minutes, a tailored list of actions will be served to help you to protect your organisation.
  2. Use the quick, easy and free Check Your Cyber Security tool, which scans internet-connected devices for common vulnerabilities to ransomware and other viruses. It provides advice on how to mitigate any risks, and lets you know if your browser is up-to-date.

Read the NCSC's Small Business Guide: Cyber Security guidance

Articles and reports

GDPR guidance

GDPR compliance
The IT Panel's GDPR articles

The Bar Council's IT Panel's articles on GDPR provides bitesize chapters on GDPR to assist barristers and chambers in understanding their professional obligations under the data protection rules. 

These articles, as updated for the Data Protection Act 2018 (and all written by the IT Panel), are also published in BarTalk, the Bar Council's fortnightly e-newsletter. 

Read the Bar Council's IT Panel's articles 

All in PDF format.