This week Lord Leveson’s inquiry will hear about private detectives running background checks on politicians, something that will come as no surprise to followers of our work. We warned earlier this year that with more than 3,500 organisations able to perform almost three million CRB checks directly, without needing to prove consent it would be easy for extra checks to be done at the behest of private investigators, journalists or staff. We also highlighted last year how more than 900 … →
Leveson turns to dodgy background checks and police searches
May 8, 2012
Posted in Data Protection, Databases, Information Commissioner, Online privacy, Police
1 Comment
Opt-in filtering: The Chinese state media view
May 4, 2012
Posted in CCDP, Civil Liberties, Internet freedom, Online privacy, Technology, Web blocking
1 Comment
As we highlighted yesterday, however laudable the objectives a state run opt-in system for online content is not a sensible way forward. Easy to circumvent, it introduces new cyber security risks and drives dangerous content underground. There is a more fundamental point to the debate – the only way it can possibly work is if the state monitors everything we do online, so they can disrupt those trying to avoid the filters and prevent in real time people accessing content. … →
Website blocking and privacy : it’s all or nothing
May 3, 2012
Posted in CCDP, Civil Liberties, Internet freedom, Mastering the Internet, Surveillance, Technology, Web blocking
6 Comments
Over the past week we’ve had the continued fall out from the Pirate Bay court ruling and Claire Perry MP’s continued calls for an opt-in content filter in the UK. The cries of ‘something must be done’ have been heard loud and clear – but is anyone thinking through what it being proposed? Both the causes are laudable ones – tackling piracy and protecting children from explicit imagery. However, Big Brother Watch cannot support the principle of blocking content as … →
Was Google Spy-Fi an accident?
May 1, 2012
Posted in Data Protection, Information Commissioner, Online privacy, Technology
5 Comments
According to documents published in the US, perhaps not. Follwing an investigation the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Google $25,000 for the unauthorised data collection between May 2007 and May 2010. As part of that investigation, they found that the engineer who designed the software specifically intended to collect and analyse the data. Highlighting the intent and capability of the ‘spi-fi’ device attached to Street View cars, the engineer carried out a test aimed at finding people’s browsing history from … →
The secret Olympics?
In a remarkable – if not bizarre – twist to the Olympic Story, Amateur Photographer reports that it will be against Olympic rules to tweet, share on Facebook or in any way share your photos of the event. Quite how this will be policed is beyond comprehension and one would hope police officers are not going to be expected to pursue anyone seen posting photos on Instagram. The London 2012 conditions state: ‘Images, video and sound recordings of the Games … →
Indiscriminate or widespread monitoring under ACTA illegal, warns EU
April 26, 2012
Posted in Civil Liberties, Europe, Internet freedom, Online privacy, Surveillance
2 Comments
In January, we highlighted how new efforts to combat counterfeit goods could mean a huge degree of monitoring of internet connections. Under the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) we warned that the implications of the law would force ISPs to police everything that their customers did online or be held liable for any illegal activity conducted over their connections. Now in a detailed report, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said that elements of the ACTA are incompatible with EU … →
Dealing with spam calls and emails
Unsolicited Phone Calls: Register for the free service provided by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), the official central opt out register where you can record your preference to not receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls. TPS note that it is a legal requirement that all organisations (including charities, voluntary organisations and political parties) do not make calls to numbers registered on the TPS database unless they have your consent to do so. To register with TPS click here. Unsolicited Text … →
Key CCDP issues for the Home Secretary
April 23, 2012
Posted in CCDP, Civil Liberties, Internet freedom, Mastering the Internet, Surveillance, Technology, Terrorism Legislation
2 Comments
Tomorrow the Home Secretary appears before the Home Affairs Select Committee to discuss, among other things, the Communications Capability Development Programme. This is a crucial opportunity for the Home Secretary to offer detail that has been badly lacking in the debate around CCDP and to offer the public an explanation of what has been planned. As we have repeatedly highlighted, much of the public concern about the policy could have been addressed with a more transparent and thorough policy making … →
Who decides what you should see online? The Government, of course.
April 18, 2012
Posted in CCDP, Civil Liberties, Internet freedom, Protection of Freedoms Bill, Technology, Web blocking
9 Comments
Today’s report from Claire Perry MP says pretty much what we expected – it is for bureaucrats to decide what we can and cannot see online.We must then ask permission from our internet service providers to see content that is absolutely legal. Despite being a report dedicated to online pornography and how anyone wishing to see it should be forced to opt-in with their ISP, the report offers no definition of what is pornography or adult content. Inevitably, the Internet … →
Scan before you tan
In one Brighton tanning salon, the growing use of biometric technology has taken an even more ridiculous step. As reported by the Brighton Argus, the system is apparently designed to stop people tanning more than once in 24 hours (because obviously the only way to stop that is to fingerprint all your customers). The fingerprint scanners are now in place, with the only way of opting-out to write a letter to the company’s head office. This is a tanning shop, … →