News

IT legislation and regulation

• September 05, 2022 05 Sep'22

  Huge leap to contactless payments in past three years

  Covid-19 pushes the use of contactless payments for face-to-face transactions to 90% of total

• September 02, 2022 02 Sep'22

  HMRC to review how IR35 works in practice following PAC criticism

  Several months have passed since the Public Accounts Committee issued its damning report on the fallout from the introduction of the IR35 reforms in the public sector, and HMRC has shared its feedback on its contents

• September 01, 2022 01 Sep'22

  Swedish Electronics Protection Act coincides with major cyber spend

  Swedish cyber security law comes at a time of heavy government investment

• September 01, 2022 01 Sep'22

  Arm sues Qualcomm over Nuvia tie-up

  Qualcomm hopes to integrate Nuvia’s technology into its system-on-a-chip products based on Arm cores – but Arm says this infringes its IP

• August 31, 2022 31 Aug'22

  Four years into GDPR, Norway hopes for safer data transfer to US

  Much of the data on the internet ends up on US servers at some point, and that is not always compatible with the General Data Protection Regulation, says Norwegian data protection authority

• August 30, 2022 30 Aug'22

  UK government presses on with new cyber rules for telcos

  Government has finalised new security rules for telecoms companies and will move to make them binding in the near future

• August 30, 2022 30 Aug'22

  One Login digital identity project makes headway

  Government services are lining up to work with the GDS on its One Login digital identity system, according to its director of digital identity, Natalie Jones

• August 24, 2022 24 Aug'22

  Alleged Twitter security failings spell trouble ahead

  Twitter’s former security head, Peiter Zatko, has alleged a number of serious cyber failures at the social media platform, raising the spectre of investigations and sanctions

• August 23, 2022 23 Aug'22

  Altice gets regulatory green light for added stake in BT

  Despite previous worries by UK government of potential threat to levelling-up agenda on broadband, corporate regulatory probe finds no issue with increase in stakeholding by long-rumoured potential buyer of UK incumbent telco

• August 22, 2022 22 Aug'22

  Contracting market weighs in on Liz Truss pledge to review IR35 rules if she becomes prime minister

  As Liz Truss continues her Conservative Party leadership campaign, she tells the national press of her plans to review the IR35 rules should she succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister

• August 22, 2022 22 Aug'22

  Lloyd’s to end insurance coverage for state cyber attacks

  Lloyd’s of London has instructed its members to exclude nation state cyber attacks from insurance policies beginning in 2023, saying they pose unacceptable levels of risk

• August 18, 2022 18 Aug'22

  LexisNexis sued by immigration advocates over data practices

  Four immigration advocacy groups launch lawsuit in Illinois alleging data broker’s collection, aggregation and sale of people’s personal data, including non-public information, to corporations and government bodies

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  Lawyers and journalists sue CIA and Mike Pompeo over Assange surveillance claims

  CIA and its former director sued over allegations that they authorised unlawful spying on US citizens when they visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  How clean data helps Southern Water identify vulnerable customers

  Escalating prices means households around the country are having to tighten spending, with many struggling to pay their bills. Water4All, a consortium led by Southern Water, is using data to identify low-income and vulnerable households so they can ...

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  England and Wales councils unprepared for PSTN withdrawal in 2025

  Freedom of information act request reveals worrying finding that over half of councils in England and Wales have no strategy for the prospective withdrawal of traditional PSTN communications networks

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  Report reveals consensus around Computer Misuse Act reform

  A study produced by the CyberUp campaign reveals broad alignment among security professionals on questions around the Computer Misuse Act, which it hopes will give confidence to policymakers as they explore its reform

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  UK government aims to allow struggling families access to cheaper broadband

  New support scheme designed to enable customers to give permission to broadband providers to confirm their eligibility for cheaper deals

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  FCSA appoints independent panel to bolster dispute resolution protocols for umbrella firms

  In a statement to Computer Weekly, the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association says the panel will provide umbrella companies with a route to appeal against the decisions made by its CEO

• August 12, 2022 12 Aug'22

  Department of Health investigates bias in medical devices and algorithms

  The government has launched a review to look at the problem of discrimination in medical devices and decision-making software

• August 12, 2022 12 Aug'22

  Online Safety Bill ‘not fit for purpose’, say tech experts

  IT specialists lack confidence that legislation compelling tech firms to tackle online harms will work as intended, with only a small minority believing ‘harmful but legal’ content can be effectively and proportionately policed by internet platforms

• August 10, 2022 10 Aug'22

  UK to surveil convicted migrants with facial recognition

  A Home Office scheme to biometrically scan the faces of convicted migrants who have already carried out punishments has come under fire from privacy and human rights groups for being discriminatory

• August 09, 2022 09 Aug'22

  HS2 sets aside £9.5m to cover cost of IR35 non-compliance

  HS2 has become the latest public sector entity to have fallen foul of the IR35 rules, with its accounts confirming that it is anticipating a tax bill of £9.5m for failing to assess the status of contractors provided to it by a third party

• August 08, 2022 08 Aug'22

  Internet giants in favour as Ireland tightens rules on datacentres

  Irish premier Michael Martin has insisted its temporary squeeze on datacentre construction is not a moratorium on the industry

• August 04, 2022 04 Aug'22

  Financial services regulator opens digital delivery centre in Leeds

  The Financial Conduct Authority is increasing the number of tech experts in its workforce through a new digital delivery centre in Leeds

• August 03, 2022 03 Aug'22

  New EU due diligence law needs amending to stop tech sector abuse

  European corporate due diligence directive seeking to transform how companies approach their human rights and environmental risk is welcome, but without further changes, it will fail to effectively curb tech firms’ harmful practices, claims ...

• August 02, 2022 02 Aug'22

  UK regulator urged to address broadband loyalty penalty issue

  Citizens Advice calls on UK comms regulator to take action after loyalty penalties of £451m were revealed for broadband customers and £83m for mobile customers paying a bundled contract including a handset

• August 02, 2022 02 Aug'22

  UK safety tech sector sees strong revenue and employment growth

  Safety tech is now one of the fastest-growing sectors in the UK tech industry, with jumps in revenue, investment and employment

• July 29, 2022 29 Jul'22

  Austrian data firm accused of selling malware, conducting cyber attacks

  Microsoft has accused DSIRF, an Austrian data services firm, of involvement in a string of cyber attacks

• July 28, 2022 28 Jul'22

  Hibs push for the backup premier league with Acronis

  Hibernian FC signs Acronis to get top division data protection and make the most of ticketing information and match footage as it tries to gain more value from the data it holds

• July 27, 2022 27 Jul'22

  Government slammed for slow response to IR35-related consultation on zero-rights employees

  The government has taken four years to publish its response to a three-month consultation on whether employment status and tax laws should be more closely aligned, and concluded that now is not the right time to make any changes

• July 27, 2022 27 Jul'22

  US doubles bounty on Lazarus cyber crime group to $10m

  US State Department doubles a previously announced reward for information on North Korean cyber criminals, including the notorious Lazarus group

• July 26, 2022 26 Jul'22

  Secret court asked to quash a decade of MI5 surveillance warrants following ‘systemic breaches’

  The culture at MI5 was to ‘prioritise’ missions ‘over everything else’, including compliance with safeguards designed to protect the public, the UK’s most secret court heard yesterday

• July 25, 2022 25 Jul'22

  Home Office ‘unlawfully’ approved MI5 bulk surveillance warrants

  MI5 provided ‘false information’ to the Home Office to secure bulk surveillance warrants, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard

• July 25, 2022 25 Jul'22

  Umbrella IT contractors could get back-dated holiday pay windfall following Supreme Court ruling

  Umbrella industry stakeholders weigh-up the financial implications of a Supreme Court ruling, which could pave the way for IT contractors to submit back-dated claims for holiday pay

• July 22, 2022 22 Jul'22

  Forrester: European cloud adoption accelerates

  The rise in public cloud usage across the UK and EU will speed up new cloud-specific regulations

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  GCHQ experts back scanning of encrypted phone messages to fight child abuse

  Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC, and Crispin Robinson, technical director of GCHQ, back client-side scanning software on mobile phones to detect child abuse

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  UK government introduces data reforms legislation to Parliament

  Proposed changes to UK’s data protection regime include new grounds for data processing, significant powers for the secretary of state to direct the regime’s application, and fewer restrictions on law enforcement’s use of data

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Barnet Council to bring work outsourced to Capita back in-house by 2026

  London borough is bringing swathes of outsourced services back in-house next year, with more to follow by 2026

• July 19, 2022 19 Jul'22

  MPs slam FCSA for declining to answer questions on umbrella companies withholding holiday pay

  Freelance and Contractor Services Association under fire from MPs for declining to answer questions about the umbrella companies that make up its membership and their stance on ensuring contractors receive their holiday pay entitlements

• July 18, 2022 18 Jul'22

  US cyber agency CISA to open London office

  The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has chosen London to host its first office outside America

• July 18, 2022 18 Jul'22

  Government proposes pro-innovation AI framework

  In contrast to the EU’s more centralised approach to artificial intelligence regulations, the UK government is giving regulators more freedom to adapt rules

• July 18, 2022 18 Jul'22

  Data and tech platforms helping finance regulator spot problems earlier

  The UK financial services regulator is increasingly using data platforms to proactively regulate the finance sector

• July 15, 2022 15 Jul'22

  Drivers’ union calls for immediate dismissal of Uber executive

  Uber’s continued employment of an executive directly involved in efforts to resist regulatory oversight puts the ride-hailing firm in breach of its 2018 licence conditions, says drivers’ union

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  ICO wants to ‘empower people through information’

  Information Commissioner’s Office sets out commitment to safeguard the information rights of the most vulnerable people in UK society

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  ICO calls for review into government use of private email and WhatsApp messages

  Information Commissioner’s Office reprimands Department of Health and Social Care after ministers and officials conducted government business on their own email accounts and messaging apps

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  Brits say social media must do more to block harmful content

  UK citizens want social media companies to do more to prevent harmful content appearing on their platforms

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  Is time running out for legacy payments technology used by banks?

  The company bringing Google-like processing to core banking for banks has added the same proposition in payments

• July 11, 2022 11 Jul'22

  Oracle to open first sovereign cloud regions for EU-based users in 2023

  Database software giant Oracle has set out plans to provide private enterprises and public sector organisations with access to sovereign cloud regions, with the first set to open in Spain and Germany next year

• July 08, 2022 08 Jul'22

  Ofcom publishes Online Safety Roadmap

  The roadmap sets out how the online harms regulator will approach implementing the UK’s online safety regime, and tells tech firms to start preparing for the new rules

• July 08, 2022 08 Jul'22

  Stop telling clients to pay ransomware gangs, solicitors told

  The NCSC and the ICO are calling on solicitors to help tackle the rising number of ransomware payments being made, and to stop giving erroneous advice to victims