Tag: uk
  • Sep 11, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Encryption, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Welcome to the quantum Internet, with privacy guaranteed by the laws of physics

Quantum computing is gradually moving from the realm of science – and even science fiction – to become a practical technology that is being used in real-life contexts. Three years ago, Privacy News Online wrote about one aspect – the possibility that quantum computers will be able to unlock all of today’s encryption, including the … Continue reading “Welcome to the quantum Internet, with privacy guaranteed by the laws of physics”

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Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: August 21, 2020

Featured: Privacy News Online – Week of August 21st, 2020 How the government legally tracks your smartphone use with the Anomaly Six SDK Some of the apps on your smartphone could be sending information back to the government. The Wall Street Journal reports that the US government is actively tracking smartphones through a software development … Continue reading “Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: August 21, 2020”

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  • Aug 12, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Court finds UK police use of facial recognition technology breaches privacy rights, data protection laws and equality laws

Automated facial recognition has emerged as one of the most problematic technologies for privacy. That’s reflected in the increasing number of posts on this blog dealing with the issues it raises. Of particular concern is police use. The UK has been in the vanguard here, as has the pushback by privacy campaigners. A year ago … Continue reading “Court finds UK police use of facial recognition technology breaches privacy rights, data protection laws and equality laws”

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  • Jul 2, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

After exaggerated claims about their importance, here’s the reality of contact tracing apps

Back in February, this blog was one of the first to warn that the obvious technological response to the coronavirus – the use of contact tracing apps – raised important privacy questions. Since then, both the apps and their implications have been the subject of debate around the world. That’s particularly the case for the … Continue reading “After exaggerated claims about their importance, here’s the reality of contact tracing apps”

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  • May 6, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Growing storm over UK’s coronavirus tracing app shows how not to do it

As this blog noted a couple of weeks ago, many governments around the world are looking to introduce coronavirus tracing apps to help take their countries out of lockdown. The hope is that such apps can be used by millions of people to pinpoint potential new cases of Covid-19 so that medical interventions can be … Continue reading “Growing storm over UK’s coronavirus tracing app shows how not to do it”

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  • Apr 24, 2020 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

UK government plans to let more agencies access internet connection records with Investigatory Powers Act expansion

The Investigatory Powers Act was passed in 2016 and mandated that internet service providers and mobile data providers in the UK store internet connection records for twelve months. Internet connection records include the metadata that are tied to all internet connections – examples include the internet activity timestamps, internet history, IP addresses used, etc. Dubbed … Continue reading “UK government plans to let more agencies access internet connection records with Investigatory Powers Act expansion”

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  • Jan 17, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Police forces around the world continue to deploy facial recognition systems, despite no evidence of their utility

Last month, this blog wrote about governments around the world continuing to trial facial recognition systems, and the growing concerns this is provoking. There’s one area in particular where facial recognition systems are deployed: law enforcement. That’s hardly a surprise, since the legal system can only operate if it identifies alleged criminals that need to … Continue reading “Police forces around the world continue to deploy facial recognition systems, despite no evidence of their utility”

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  • Sep 30, 2019 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

New treaty will allow UK to request data, not backdoor, from US social media companies like WhatsApp

Social media apps like WhatsApp will be obligated to share what they share with the US with the UK under a proposed United States, United Kingdom treaty called the CLOUD Act. From what security experts are gleaming from the law, the CLOUD ACT opens up data requests that WhatsApp usually fills for the US for … Continue reading “New treaty will allow UK to request data, not backdoor, from US social media companies like WhatsApp”

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  • Aug 14, 2019 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

Arsenic in the water of democracy: UK police, politicians and privacy activists clash over facial recognition deployments

Last week’s post looked at the increasing number of moves to rein in, or even ban, the use of facial recognition technologies in the US. Another country at the forefront of exploring the legal, social and ethical issues raised by the technology is the UK. Problems with the use of facial recognition technologies by the … Continue reading “Arsenic in the water of democracy: UK police, politicians and privacy activists clash over facial recognition deployments”

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  • Jul 8, 2019 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

The writing is on the wall for ads based on real-time bidding in the EU – and maybe everywhere

Privacy News Online noted back in February a growing disquiet at the huge amounts of personal information that sites like Facebook and Google routinely gather about us, and how it is used for personalized advertising. Of particular concern is real-time bidding (RTB), which sees often extremely private information sent out to hundreds of potential advertisers, … Continue reading “The writing is on the wall for ads based on real-time bidding in the EU – and maybe everywhere”

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