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Wishful thinking?
I was part of a panel at the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) conference earlier today, discussing the Communications Data Bill – and whether it struck an appropriate balance between...
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Choose your dystopia…
(See also Choose your dystopia Part 2 – here) I’ve always been a great fan of dystopian fiction – nightmarish visions of where our society is heading. I started reading them in my teens – well before...
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Choose your dystopia – part 2!
I wrote a piece yesterday, ‘Choose your dystopia‘ in which I looked at some of the best dystopian visions and how our current government seems to be using them as templates rather than as nightmares to...
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The politics of privacy…
The news that the Lib Dems are apparently ready to ‘ditch’ the Communications Data Bill – the Snoopers Charter – will come as welcome news to privacy advocates and other supporters of civil liberties....
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My snoopers’ charter posts…
With Theresa May now trying to scare us into accepting the snoopers charter, I realised quite how much I’ve written about the subject since it raised its ugly head earlier this year. Here are links to...
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Turning the tables…
————————————————————————– Imagine you’ve just been appointed the head of the online secret police for an oppressive dictatorship. Your leader comes to you with a worried expression. The internet...
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They’re taking over the internet!
There’s a big story going around at the moment: the UN’s trying to take over the internet, or some variant of that. It’s all based on the current ITU proposals at the World Conference on International...
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Fanciful and misleading…
The Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill produced its report today – (available here) and it’s a devastating piece of work, ripping the bill, and process through which it was drafted,...
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12 days…. of privacy?
NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ON VIDEO (if you want proof that I can’t sing): here Privacy is the gift that keeps on giving…. and for privacy advocates and lawyers, this year particularly! To keep festive, here’s...
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Big Brother is watching you…. and so are his corporate partners
Privacy advocates are spoilt for choice these days about what to complain about – privacy invasions by business, or privacy invasions by the authorities? Over the last year or so, I’ve written...
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Internet Surveillance: a despot’s dream…
Imagine you’ve just been appointed the head of the online secret police for an oppressive dictatorship. Your leader comes to you with a worried expression. The internet bothers him, he tells you....
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The Snoopers’ Charter: we need a new consultation
The Communications Data Bill – more commonly (and fairly accurately) known as the ‘Snoopers’ Charter’ is due to re-emerge at any moment. We have been expecting it for some time – and yet have seen...
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A privacy friendly future?
Later this week I shall be attending BILETA – the British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association conference – at Liverpool Law School. In technology terms it’s a venerable institution and...
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A privacy friendly future? The slides….
These are the slides from the presentation I gave at BILETA 2013, in Liverpool, on April 12th. I’ve blogged about them here – there isn’t a written paper, but some of the ideas explored in this paper...
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The Snoopers’ Charter – what’s happening?
Rumours persist that the Government is going to try to sneak the Communications Data Bill into the Queen’s Speech. There are so many reasons this is a bad thing it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ve...
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Snoopers’ Charter RIP?
This morning, live on air, Nick Clegg effectively said that the Communications Data Bill, the Snoopers’ Charter, was dead. I hope he’s right – and if he is, those campaigning against the bill,...
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Beware the Snoopers’ Charter Rising from the Grave…
The Communications Data Bill – the Snoopers’ Charter – is dead, so Nick Clegg has assured us. I hope he’s right – but we need to be very careful not only that it is dead, but that it is safely buried,...
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Will the Snooper’s Charter be back?
I’ve just been checking what’s in the Queen’s Speech about the Snoopers’ Charter. The details of the speech can be found here. This is the relevant section: —————————————————————– Proposals on the...
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Terrorism and knee-jerk legislation…
The hideous events in Woolwich are already provoking a huge amount of reaction – strong, intense, often very passionate reaction. Understandably so. I don’t want to go into that, for a whole lot of...
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Woolwich and the case against the Snoopers’ Charter!
Some have suggested that Woolwich is a reason to resurrect the Communications Data Bill – the Snoopers’ Charter. Indeed, not only have the usual authoritarian suspects on all sides of the political...
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