Blog
14 Apr 2021 By Mariano delli Santi
Adtech: an Open Letter to the European Parliament
Today, Open Rights Group, Panoptykon and Liberties EU sent an Open Letter to the European Parliament, asking them to stand up for the ePrivacy Regulation and our online privacy.
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06 Apr 2021 By Mariano delli Santi
Adtech: An industry broken by design and by default
European Digital Rights (EDRi) recently published “targeted online: an industry broken by design and by default”.
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01 Apr 2021 By Heather Burns
Endgame for end-to-end encryption
Today, Wired has reported that the Home Office is actively exploring legal and technical mechanisms to compel Facebook and WhatsApp to break end-to-end encrypted messaging.
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31 Mar 2021 By Sahdya Darr
Immigration, Data and Technology newsletter
Welcome to the third edition of Immigration, Data and Technology!
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29 Mar 2021 By Mariano delli Santi & Heather Burns
First look at vaccine passports
Countries around the world are considering introducing vaccine passports, and the UK is among them.
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26 Mar 2021 By Sahdya Darr
Privacy & migrant groups win extension on data matching powers
This week Open Rights Group along with other privacy advocates and organisations working for migrants’ rights were pleased to be informed that the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) agreed to our request to further extend the deadline to respond to the NFI Data Matching Powers and new Code of Data Matching Practice consultation until 5 May.
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24 Mar 2021 By Jim Killock & Heather Burns
Nominet’s chance to build a better Internet
This week, during Nominet’s EGM, Open Rights Group cast its organisational membership vote to change the current Board membership.
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18 Mar 2021 By Matthew Rice & Mariano delli Santi
Europe cannot rubber stamp the UK’s data laws
The United Kingdom is currently awaiting a decision from Europe on whether it provides adequate standards of data protection.
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17 Mar 2021 By Matthew Rice & Heather Burns
Trust is a two-way street: the UK’s digital identity framework
Open Rights Group has recently responded to the DCMS policy paper on the UK’s digital identity and attributes trust framework.
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16 Mar 2021 By Heather Burns
#SaveAnonymity: Together we can defend anonymity
In recent days, a petition has circulated online which calls for a legal requirement to provide a verified form of ID in order to open a social media account.
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11 Mar 2021 By Heather Burns
Save Online Speech Coalition Launches
Today Open Rights Group has joined our colleagues from Big Brother Watch, the Adam Smith Institute, Article 19, Global Partners Digital, and Index on Censorship in launching a campaign to demand that the Online Safety Bill protects freedom of expression online.
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10 Mar 2021 By Mariano delli Santi
Blindspots in new guidance on use of data in campaigning
The Information Commissioner’s Office published their new “Guidance for the use of personal data in political campaigning”.
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02 Mar 2021 By Mariano delli Santi
Wanted: corporate lobbyist to take over the ICO
Communicating “the wider benefits of data sharing”, “commercial and business acumen”, experience “of using data to drive innovation and growth”; and, of course, “excellent communication and relationship management skills”.
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26 Feb 2021 By Sahdya Darr
Data & Immigration update – February newsletter
Welcome to the second edition of Immigration, Data and Technology!
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25 Feb 2021 By Matthew Rice
The Government’s own goals on data privacy
The UK Government has decided not to take up an optional power to improve data protection enforcement.
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24 Feb 2021 By Mariano delli Santi
Adtech – an offer you can’t refuse
This spring, Apple will implement a new policy that will require App Store developers to ask for users’ permission in order to track them online.
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27 Jan 2021 By Sahdya Darr
Newsletter: Immigration, Data and Technology
Happy New Year!
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25 Jan 2021 By Mariano delli Santi
ICO enforcement: two years after the GDPR
On Tuesday, the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham will appear in front of the DCMS Committee for a hearing, where she will be questioned about her office’s role in protecting personal data against targeted online advertising, and the use of personal data for tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
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Data and Democracy
22 Jan 2021 By Matthew Rice
ORG Takes Political Parties to Privacy Watchdog
On 11 December 2020, the eve of the anniversary of the 2019 General Election Open Rights Group submitted complaints, represented by the data rights firm AWO, to the Information Commissioner’s Office on behalf of data subjects on the processing of personal data by the Labour Party, the Conservative and Unionist Party and the Liberal Democrats.
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13 Jan 2021 By Heather Burns
Speech offences: what’s illegal offline should be illegal online
Open Rights Group has worked with David Allen Green of Preiskel & Co.
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11 Jan 2021 By Jim Killock
Trump takedowns need accountability
Late last week, in response to the insurrection at the Capitol, Twitter and Facebook removed Donald Trump’s accounts.
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21 Dec 2020 By Mike Morel
Our movement turns 15
In 2005, a dedicated group of grassroots activists created Open Rights Group (ORG) to protect the digital rights of people in the UK.
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15 Dec 2020 By Heather Burns
Online harms: Freedom of expression remains under threat
Today (15 December) government has published its long-awaited full response to the Online Harms White Paper ahead of the publication of the Online Safety Bill next year.
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11 Dec 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Our fight against Adtech gets bigger
Two years ago, complaints against real time bidding (RTB) were lodged by Jim Killock of Open Rights Group, Michael Veale of UCL, and Johnny Ryan.
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24 Nov 2020 By Sahdya Darr
How will the National Data Strategy affect migrants and refugees?
In early September the government launched its National Data Strategy (NDS) which it described as ‘an ambitious, pro-growth strategy that aims to drive the UK in building a world-leading data economy while ensuring public trust in data use.
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23 Nov 2020 By Jim Killock
Parliament must hold the ICO to account
The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee of the House of Commons will hold a hearing with Information Commissioner soon.
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19 Nov 2020 By Jim Killock
Commons Committee spells out Japan deal digital risks
The Commons International Trade Select Committee today has politely and clearly signalled that the shift in data protection provisions put forward in the Japan-UK Trade Deal is meaningful.
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18 Nov 2020 By Jim Killock
The ICO must fix the Adtech industry
When we first took on the ad industry we knew it would not be simple.
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17 Nov 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Belgian DPA fires a warning shot at adtech, what’s next?
In 2018 we lodged complaints in UK and Ireland against real time bidding (RTB), a technology which powers commercial tracking on the Internet.
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16 Nov 2020 By Jim Killock
The democratic deficit weakening privacy in the UK-Japan deal
Trade agreements matter; and Parliament has been cut out of the substance.
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13 Nov 2020 By Heather Burns
ORG signs joint civil society statement defending encryption
Open Rights Group has signed onto a joint civil society statement expressing concerns over proposals by the UK government which would undermine encryption, including through its Online Harms Bill.
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12 Nov 2020 By Pascal Crowe
10,000,000 voters racially profiled by Conservatives
The summary report of ICO’s audits of UK political parties have finally been published.
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12 Nov 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Bringing sticks to a gunfight: how the ICO fails to enforce the law
As you may be aware of, we are taking the Information Commissioner’s Office to Court over their failure to enforce the law against digital advertising and real time bidding.
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11 Nov 2020 By Jim Killock
Parliament must act before it’s too late
Our blog on Monday made a simple point.
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09 Nov 2020 By Heather Burns & Jim Killock
Japan Trade Deal punches USA-sized hole in privacy
The UK has just signed its first new free trade agreement, independently from the EU, with Japan.
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06 Nov 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Digital Imprints, GDPR and Enforcement
Yesterday ORG submitted its response to the Cabinet Office’s technical consultation on digital imprints.
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26 Oct 2020 By Heather Burns
Online Harms: Encryption under attack
The UK government wants to make the web “safer” by using the Online Harms Bill to weaken encryption of private messages.
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14 Oct 2020 By Matthew Rice
Speak up and make UK data protection stronger
On October 22 the UK Government consultation on implementing new data protection enforcement powers will close.
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13 Oct 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Bigger than Cambridge Analytica
ORG’s view on the ICO’s personal data and political campaigns investigation.
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07 Oct 2020 By Sahdya Darr
Data & Trust: Will migrants use the NHS app?
A fortnight ago, the NHSX Covid-19 App was launched across England and Wales following the many concerns raised by civil society and privacy advocates including Open Rights Group (ORG) both collectively and individually regarding privacy and security.
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24 Sep 2020 By Jim Killock
NHS App users get privacy; other visitors get nothing
Today the Government launched its England and Wales COVID App, and its new rules to ensure that bars and restaurants keep records of customers who visit.
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14 Sep 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Pubs vs. Privacy: what changes for contact tracing
The Prime Minister announced on Wednesday 9 September that “premises and venues where people meet socially will be legally required to request the contact details of a member of every party, record and retain these details for 21 days and provide them to the NHS Test and Trace without delay when required”.
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20 Aug 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
How I learned to stop worrying and love the algorithm
United Kingdom, 2020 AD.
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05 Aug 2020 By Jim Killock
Fighting and winning for privacy, where was the ICO
The Government admitted their Test and Trace programme is operating unlawfully, but we should never have had to threaten legal action.
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29 Jul 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Digital advertising market study: the good, the bad and the ugly
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently released their market study on online platforms and digital advertising.
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22 Jul 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Hot Take: the Russia Report and Elections
Amongst the many revelations in the Russia report, a battle is playing out for the future regulatory landscape of UK elections.
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16 Jul 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
CJEU invalidates Privacy Shield: what about the UK?
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) just delivered their Schrems II judgment, writing a new chapter of the never ending saga about the adequacy of US privacy standards.
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08 Jul 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
What will Brexit mean for our privacy?
The Brexit clock is ticking.
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03 Jul 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Winners, losers, and unanswered questions
In their report released on Monday the House of Lords’ Democracy and Digital Technologies Select Committee produced a comprehensive overview of problems it considers to be of high importance to a functioning democracy.
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26 Jun 2020 By Matthew Rice
Where everybody knows your name: pubs and data
The UK Government has announced that pubs can reopen on 4 July, and in the process asked them to start collecting the personal data of their customers to assist in test and trace.
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23 Jun 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
NHSX App delayed, but data protection still MIA
It finally happened: NHSX came to realise the issues surrounding their contact tracing app, and decided to switch to a decentralised approach.
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17 Jun 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
NHSX App: no news is bad news
Amid some confusion, reports would indicate that the NHSX contact tracing app may be released nationwide in less than two weeks.
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16 Jun 2020 By Matthew Rice
Police data practices need to change: LEDS is a start
A new information management system is being developed to replace the maligned and dated Police National Computer and Police National Database.
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15 Jun 2020 By Yva Alexandrova Meadway
Immigration sector privacy concerns
As part of ORG’s work in the area of immigration we have consulted 30 organisations on their priorities and needs.
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09 Jun 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Political parties: listen to your members
ORG’s Data and Democracy Project has been working for over a year to limit the use of personal data by political parties.
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08 Jun 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
The ICO we want
Last week, Open Rights Group (ORG) found out that the Information Rights tribunal ceased their general stay.
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03 Jun 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Demand strong legal safeguards for Contact Tracing
The NHSX is currently testing their digital contact tracing app in the Isle of Wight, and is set to release it nation-wide sometime soon.
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02 Jun 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
Something is rotten in the Information Commissioner’s Office
The COVID-19 test and trace system immediately hit the news for its dubious privacy policy, as well as the lack of a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
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29 May 2020 By Yva Alexandrova Meadway
Immigration Bill brings surveillance to EU migrants
The UK immigration regime is set for major changes, as the UK leaves the EU.
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22 May 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
ICO may have slowed down on AdTech, but we’re up and running
The ongoing coronavirus crisis may have pulled the brake on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforcement of your rights, but online advertising companies are doing just fine.
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19 May 2020 By Yva Alexandrova Meadway
Data, privacy and new tech in the immigration sector
Understanding the needs and capacities to deal with data, privacy and the use of new technologies in the immigration sector
Please take a moment to answer our survey on the immigration sector needs and capacities to deal with privacy, personal data, digital and technological changes: https://www.
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13 May 2020 By Mariano delli Santi
NHSX tracking app Privacy Assessment: Key Concerns
NHSX finally released the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for their contact tracing app at the weekend.
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07 May 2020 By Yva Alexandrova Meadway
Hostile environment may stop migrants from using NHSX tracker app
This week the Government confirmed that the NHSX app being developed as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic is using a centralised contact matching system.
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24 Apr 2020 By Jim Killock
Time for a Coronavirus Safeguards Bill
While we pause our weekly online discussions, we’ll keep you informed here on the fast moving debate over digital privacy and Covid-19.
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21 Apr 2020 By Yva Alexandrova Meadway
Contact tracing apps & vulnerable migrants: key concerns
In our recent blog we discussed the emerging privacy issues around contact tracing and ‘immunity passports’, and the announcement from Google and Apple that they are jointly working on a contact tracing app.
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15 Apr 2020 By Jim Killock
Contact tracing and immunity passports must respect privacy
The government’s plans for contact tracing and immunity passports should respect privacy, both at a technical level and backed by legal safeguards.
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07 Apr 2020 By Jim Killock
Contact tracing and immunity passports: questions for the government
We continue to hear bits and pieces about the way that mobile apps may be developed, and about the possibilities that Immunity Passports might come with intrusive database projects.
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Data and Democracy
07 Apr 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Democracy and Covid-19
The Covid 19 epidemic has disrupted our economic and social life unlike anything seen in peacetime.
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03 Apr 2020 By Jim Killock
The government must explain its approach to mobile contact tracing
Mobile data and contact tracing is a hot topic, as the UK and EU develop projects to provide privacy-protecting means of understanding who is at risk of infection.
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Data and Democracy
31 Mar 2020 By Pascal Crowe
Imprints: who’s responsible?
Many proposed electoral reforms are highly contested.
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26 Mar 2020 By Jim Killock
Open tech, privacy and Covid-19
From enabling strategies to curb the virus to empowering individuals to connect and work from home, digital technology is playing a vital role in the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Data and Democracy
24 Mar 2020 By Pascal Crowe
We need political accountability more than ever- and the ICO can lead the way
We are living in an unprecedented historical moment.
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20 Mar 2020 By Jim Killock
In the Coronavirus crisis, privacy will be compromised—but our right to know must not be
At Open Rights Group (ORG), we want the government to succeed in its pursuit of the eradication of Coronvirus COVID-19.
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02 Mar 2020 By Javier Ruiz
UK publishes trade objectives for deal with the US: What you need to know
The UK government has set out its plans and priorities for the negotiations of a free trade agreement with the US.
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19 Feb 2020 By Francis Davey
Data Protection and Brexit
At the moment, the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR) is an important piece of legislation protecting personal data, but it is European, not UK law.
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Data and Democracy
31 Jan 2020 By Pascal Crowe
APPG on Electoral Campaigning Transparency adopt ORG reforms
Last summer, Open Rights Group gave oral evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Electoral Campaigning Transparency.
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29 Jan 2020 By Javier Ruiz
Is ethical Ad-Tech possible?
Last week ORG was in Brussels at the main annual privacy conference in Europe, CPDP, which stands for Computer Privacy and Data Protection.
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11 Dec 2019 By Javier Ruiz
Leaked UK US trade talks risk future flow of data with the EU
We come to the end of the 2019 election campaign, which has seen some huge controversies.
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Data and Democracy
09 Dec 2019 By Amy Shepherd
Profiling, Political opinions, and Data Protection – The Legal Background
We’re campaigning to stop political parties abusing personal data in their rush to try and win elections.
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03 Dec 2019 By Matthew Rice
What we’ve learned from asking political parties: Who do you think we are?
Over 2019, Open Rights Group (ORG) have been exercising our rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to find out what UK political parties are up to with our personal data.
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20 Nov 2019 By Amy Shepherd & Mike Morel
The AdTech showdown is coming but will the ICO bite?
The 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was meant to be a Good Thing – a strong law that would make businesses act responsibly and give ordinary people control over our personal data.
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17 Oct 2019 By Jim Killock
Age Verification is dead – for now
Open Rights Group welcomes this change for two reasons.
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07 Oct 2019 By Amy Shepherd
Be the future – 5 simple ways political parties can protect digital rights
No-one fully knows what a post-Brexit Britain will look like.
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Data and Democracy
02 Sep 2019 By Pascal Crowe
Out for the count : the £9 million white elephant in London’s next election
Electronic counting in London – the subject of criticism from the Electoral Commission and Open Rights Group for many years – is now spiralling in cost.
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08 Jul 2019 By By Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN
European Net Neutrality is Under Attack
Network neutrality explained
Net neutrality is the idea that ISPs must ensure an equal internet connection to each and every user.
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29 Jun 2019 By Ed Johnson-Williams and Amy Shepherd
Online Harms: Blocking websites doesn’t work – use a rights-based approach instead
This is the finding from our recent research into website blocking by mobile and broadband Internet providers.
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Data and Democracy
28 Jun 2019 By Pascal Crowe
Hunting for a solution? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
It seems apt that it was at this week’s ‘digital hustings’ for the Conservative Party leadership that Jeremy Hunt unilaterally came out in favour of online voting.
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11 Jun 2019 By Jim Killock
EFF and Open Rights Group Defend the Right to Publish Open Source Software to the UK Government
https://www.
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09 May 2019 By Pascal Crowe
More than money – How to tame online political ads
Political parties target ads online by using personal data to include or exclude potential voters.
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08 Apr 2019 By Jim Killock and Amy Shepherd
The DCMS Online Harms Strategy must ‘design in’ fundamental rights
Read the White Paper here.
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19 Mar 2019 By Jim Killock
Jeremy Wright needs to act to avert disasters from porn age checks
The government rejected Parliamentary attempts to include privacy powers over age verification tools, so DCMS have limited possibilities right now.
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14 Mar 2019 By Javier Ruiz
US red lines for digital trade with the UK cause alarm
Trade negotiations between the US and the UK have recently received a lot of attention due to the publication of the official negotiating objectives of the US Government, which set out in sometimes candid detail the areas of interest and priorities.
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11 Mar 2019 By Amy Shepherd
Brexit, Data Privacy and the EU Settled Status Scheme
The EU Settled Status Scheme (“the scheme”) provides the administrative route through which all EU nationals must apply to remain in the UK after 30 June 2021, in the event of a deal, or 31 December 2020, in the event of no deal.
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08 Mar 2019 By Jim Killock
Informal Censorship: The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
Read the full report here.
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05 Mar 2019 By Jim Killock
Informal Internet Censorship: The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU)
Read the full report here.
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28 Feb 2019 By Jim Killock
Informal Internet Censorship: Nominet domain suspensions
Read the full report here.
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27 Feb 2019 By Jim Killock
We met to discuss BBFC’s voluntary age verification privacy scheme, but BBFC did not attend
We invited all the AV providers we know about, and most importantly, the BBFC, at the start of February.
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26 Feb 2019 By Matthew Rice
The missing piece from the DCMS report? Themselves
The Disinformation and ‘fake news’ report from the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee splashed onto front pages, news feeds and timelines on 18 February.
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19 Feb 2019 By Jim Killock
Formal Internet Censorship: BBFC pornography blocking
Read the full report here.
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15 Feb 2019 By Jim Killock
Formal Internet Censorship: Copyright blocking injunctions
Read the full report here.
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