A group of Home Office officials are continuing to work on plans for a giant central database of email, web browsing, phone and mobile location data, even though the laws the government had planned to legitimise it won’t be put to parliament until 2010 at the earliest, and possibly not at all. … Meanwhile a minister implied that the database could be built without any new laws, counter-terrorism minister Vernon Coaker “The results of the public consultation will be used to inform any decisions on the programme’s preferred solution and safeguards and to determine whether future legislation is needed.” … Some £1bn was allocated for early procurement and development in 2007.

Source: The Register

Nicholas Bohm, General Counsel, FIPR:

“My earlier legal analysis shows that the operation of Phorm’s system involves illegal interception, fraud and breach of the data protection principles. Now, with the help of my co-author Joel Harrison, I’ve explained how the system infringes the copyright and database rights of many Internet content providers. These companies have the option to take court action to ensure that Phorm, and the ISPs that use their system, are unable to profit from their illegal actions — Phorm and the ISPs have only one sensible option: to abandon their plans altogether.”

The November 2008 issue of “Computers and Law”, the highly respected publication of the Society for Computers and Law, carries an article by Nicholas Bohm, General Counsel for the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), and Joel Harrison, an associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.

The article considers a new set of legal issues that arise from the deployment of “behavioural advertising” systems that provide targeted advertising by snooping on Internet users’ web browsing. In particular, it considers whether the system from Phorm Inc that is currently being tested in the UK by BT under the “Webwise” brand name will infringe the legal rights of intellectual property holders.

Earlier legal analysis by Nicholas Bohm has shown that deployment of the Phorm system amounts to illegal interception of web traffic, contrary to s1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The new article explains how the Phorm system will also infringe the database right for some website owners. It further shows that the Phorm system will infringe almost all website owners’ copyright. The way that the Phorm system works means that it will make an infringing copy of the website content; and none of the statutory exceptions in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 are applicable.

Website owners can take action through the courts to defend their rights. The article explains that this is not mere legal quibbling, since some website owners will suffer actual harm from the Phorm business model. The authors point out that although damages could be awarded for the infringements, an alternative remedy would be for the claimant to go after the profits made from the infringing acts, preventing the ISPs who deploy Phorm from making any money from their illegal systems.

Source: fipr press release

The Information Commissioner is to be given tougher powers to regulate the Data Protection Act under proposals put forward by Justice Secretary Jack Straw today.

The proposals will enable the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to:

* impose monetary penalties on data controllers for deliberate or reckless loss of data
* inspect central government departments and public authorities’ compliance with the Data Protection Act without always requiring prior consent
* require any person, where a warrant is being served, to provide information required to determine compliance with the Data Protection Act
* impose a deadline and location for the provision of information necessary to assess compliance
* publish guidance on when organisations should notify the ICO of breaches of the data protection principles
* publish a statutory data sharing code of practice to provide practical guidance on sharing personal data.

The details of the proposals are contained within the Government’s response to the Data Sharing Review.

Jack Straw Justice Secretary said:

‘As new technologies have developed, the secure storage and careful sharing of personal information held by both the public and private sectors has become paramount.

‘Strong regulation and clear guidance is essential if we are to ensure the effective protection of personal data.

‘The changes we propose today will strengthen the Information Commissioner’s ability to enforce the Data Protection Act and improve the transparency and accountability of organisations dealing with personal information. This is very important if we are to regain public confidence in the handling and sharing of personal information.

‘The Prime Minister and I are very grateful to Professor Mark Walport and Richard Thomas for all their work on the Review, from which these decisions flow.’

The Government also proposes revising the ICO’s funding structure for its work on data protection to a tiered fee structure based on size of organisation. This will replace the flat rate notification fee which has not changed since its original introduction in 1984. It will better reflect the level of work and provide additional funds for the ICO.

Today’s proposals follow a detailed consultation held by the Ministry of Justice on the Information Commissioner’s inspection powers and funding following recommendations in the Data Sharing Review published in July 2008.
Legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Source: Ministry of Justice Press Release

Lawyers for the rights holder of several music tracks, including ‘Scooter - Jumping All Over the World’, have sought a court order from nine UK ISPs to release the details of customers deemed to be responsible for illegally sharing the copyright content online.

Digiprotect Gesellschaft Zum Schutze Digitale Medien’s lawyers have consequently issued warning letters to some of the individuals concerned, threatening High Court legal proceedings unless a fine of £500 is paid within 21 days.

Source: ISPreview

On November 26th 2008 there will be a small protest at the ICO Privacy by Design conference in Manchester.

If you’re in the Manchester area, please come and join us.

The purpose of the event is to leaflet attendees, to highlight plans by BT Group PLC, Virgin Media and Car Phone Warehouse to deploy intrusive technology across their broadband networks for the purpose of profiling the behaviour of their customers, and the private communications with the web sites they use.

Source: No Deep Packet Inspection

After years of little more than hot air from a sequence of Home Secretaries, we’re finally getting to see the fine detail of what “ID cards” will really mean to the average person. It may be quite a shock to those who haven’t been paying attention.

It is not just the sheer amount of personal information that you will be required to surrender – a wake-up for any remaining who thought this was a simple card – it is the threats that will be used to force compliance. You could have £1000 penalties sent to you by e-mail if IPS thinks you’ve been bad – and why might they think that?

If you fail to turn up at a time and place of their choosing; refuse to be fingerprinted, photographed or hand over documents (e.g. birth or marriage certificates); fail to tell them you’ve moved house for 3 months.

And anything that *they* reckon is “deliberate or reckless” provision of incorrect information could lead to 2 years in prison. Welcome to a lifetime of state identity control…

Phil Booth, NO2ID [3] national coordinator said: “So the state ‘managing’ your identity boils down to telling them everything there is to know about you, under threat – and coughing up time and again for the privilege.”

“This must be a wake-up call for everyone who bought the line that ID was just a simple card.”

…

Other dubious ‘highlights’ include:

• a tax on marriage - women who change their name will have to buy a new card;
• those without bank accounts won’t be able to get ID – you can only pay by credit or debit card, or cheque;
• the homeless will be able to nominate a park bench as their ‘address’

Source: NO2ID
Consultation Document: 12 Week consultation from the Home Office

Surfing the internet, playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen development, a large study of online use has revealed. The report counters the stereotypical view held by many parents and teachers that such activity is a waste of time. More than 800 teenagers and parents took part in the three-year US project.

Source: BBC

Justice secretary Jack Straw has been accused of letting EDS get away with ” a slap on the wrist” after losing a hard drive containing sensitive personal data on prison staff. … In a Commons statement on the outcome of the inquiry Straw revealed that the hard drive contained bank details, addresses, National Insurance numbers and dates of birth on 256 staff, and not 5,000 as originally reported. … Liberal Democrat justice spokesman David Howarth added: “It says a lot that it is considered good news when it is revealed that hundreds of people, rather than thousands, have had their sensitive personal information lost.”

Source: Computing

Over 19,000 people have signed a petition to the Prime Minister, making it the fifth most popular petition currently open on the Number 10 website.

We petition the Prime Minister to investigate the Phorm technology and if found to breach UK or European privacy laws then ban all ISP’s from adopting it’s use. Additionally the privacy laws should be reviewed to cover any future technologies such as Phorm

Source: E-Petitions on the Number 10 website.

BT’s taken the rather draconian step of banning discussion about [Phorm] Webwise on its support site.

“Our broadband support forums are designed to be a place where customers can discuss technical support issues and offer solutions,” a post announcing the change of policy states.

“To ensure that the forums remain constructive we’re tightening up our moderation policies and will be deleting threads that don’t provide constructive support. For example, we have removed a number of forum discussions about BT Webwise.”

Source: PC Pro