(Reuters) — Britain’s data watchdog has dismissed Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s claims against a campaign group which used data to link him and his BSGR mining business to corruption in Guinea, saying the group enjoyed exemptions for journalists.

Steinmetz and three executives working with BSGR – which was stripped of its mining rights on the giant Simandou iron deposit in Guinea in April for alleged corruption – sued the Global Witness group last year at the High Court of London, claiming damages for breaches of their human and data protection rights..

The court passed the case to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which said that Global Witness was covered by exemptions because of the journalistic nature of its work.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

BSGR, which has denied any wrongdoing, said it would appeal.

The BSGR executives, suing under British data protection law, accused Global Witness of unfairly obtaining and using but then refusing to produce on request personal data on Steinmetz, David Clark, Sandra Merloni-Horemans and Dag Cramer.

It was the first time the privacy law was used in such context.

Global Witness, which campaigns for transparency in the resources industry, maintained that given the journalistic nature of its work it could rely on exemptions from data disclosure.

“It is a victory for press freedom because it defines journalists by what they do, not whom they work for,” Leigh Baldwin, an investigative journalist at Global Witness, said on the ruling.

BSGR is currently also engaged in legal battles against Guinea and two large mining companies – Rio Tinto and Vale – with interests in Simandou.

“The ICO has not applied the law correctly and we will be asking the courts to review its decision,” said a spokeswoman for BSGR.

BSGR has denied paying bribes to obtain licenses in Guinea and has accused Guinea and its advisers, including philanthropist George Soros, one of Global Witness’ main funders, of mounting a smear campaign against it.

Earlier this month BSGR also said it had started legal action against Britain’s Home Secretary Theresa May and the UK anti-fraud agency also in relation to the Guinea case.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount