Which? Computing claims to have discovered 20 people who say they’ve been mistakenly targeted as illegal file-sharers by a law firm sending out threatening letters.

According to Which? Computing, ACS Law has sent out around 6,000 letters on behalf of games firms Reality Pump and Topware Interactive, claiming that people have been caught illegally file-sharing their games.

Source: PC Pro

The Ministry of Justice has seen its number of information breaches increase from 563 in 2007/08 to 1,316 in 2008/09.

These figures, revealed in a parliamentary written answer, equate to a 43 per cent increase in one year.

Source: publicservice.co.uk
Hat tip: @privacyint

The latest station usage information is based on ticket sales in the financial year 2007-08 and covers all National Rail stations throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The station usage figures are subdivided by ticket type (full, reduced and season tickets), whilst information on the county and region of each station is also provided.

Source: Office of Rail Regultion

Tory motion will allow House of Commons to discuss controversial scheme and examine if the government has made a U-turn or not

MPs are to debate ID card policy in the House of Commons on Monday (6 July) in a motion called by the Tory Party.

There has been growing speculation in recent weeks about the future of the controversial scheme.

Source: Computing

This is an Output Area file which contains a measure of distance from households to various services for England, this file has been made available to allow users to develop their own bespoke analysis of access to services data.

Source: Commission for Rural Communities
For more data sets see Rural Services Data Series

The Government’s flagship e-borders programme is in disarray and could breach EU law, major transport operators said.

The £750 million programme to collect electronic records of everyone who enters and leaves the UK will also miss Home Office deadlines, they said.

…

Firms also fear that by taking passport data they may breach French and Belgian law which states only law enforcement officials can do so.

Bulk transfer of passenger data could also breach EU data protection rules, he said.

Requiring passengers to provide the information could fall foul of the right to free movement enshrined in EU treaties.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Some 20 net users have come forward claiming they have been wrongly accused of illegally sharing video games. It follows an investigation by Which? Computing magazine into a couple who were accused of playing a game they claim they had never heard of.

Source: BBC

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, GGF’s Hans Pandeya said that the only way to beat illegal file-sharing was to make something more attractive.

“We are going to set up a system where the file-sharer actually makes money,” he said.

According to Mr Pandeya, GGF’s chief executive, the business model for The Pirate Bay would be that it continued to be a file-sharing site. The only difference - at least in terms of content - would be that the files would be hosted legally, rather than stolen from copyright holders.

Source: BBC News
via: Techdirt

The European Commission should make sure that outsourcing providers who process personal data are bound by consistent rules irrespective of whether they are based inside or outside the EU, data protection watchdogs have said.

The European Union’s Article 29 Working Party, which consists of the privacy regulators from the 27 EU nations, have published an opinion on an as-yet unpublished European Commission policy change on the transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

It said that the Commission needs to adopt a more consistent approach in its policy governing processors.

Companies that handle personal data are required by the EU’s Data Protection Directive to make sure that any outsourcing providers they use give adequate protection and security for that data, even if those providers are outside the EU and so not directly bound by the Directive.

Source: Out-Law.com

The rollout of identity cards will be accelerated under new proposals set out today by Home Secretary Alan Johnson, highlighting the benefits of identity cards to those who need them most.

In addition to residents of Greater Manchester, who will be able to apply for an Identity card before the end of this year, residents in locations across the North West will be entitled to apply from early next year.

Source: Identity & Passport Service