News
IT legislation and regulation
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February 18, 2021
18
Feb'21
Swedish police fined for unlawful use of facial-recognition app
Sweden’s data watchdog has found that Swedish police failed to conduct the data protection checks required by law before using controversial facial-recognition tool
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February 18, 2021
18
Feb'21
HMRC accused of 'utter hypocrisy' over use of IT contractors enrolled in tax avoidance schemes
Campaign group calls for HMRC to face an investigation, while accusing the department of ‘utter hypocrisy’ for using IT contractors enrolled in disguised remuneration schemes
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February 18, 2021
18
Feb'21
Assessing UK law enforcement data adequacy
Data protection experts discuss the consequences of achieving data adequacy between the UK and EU for the UK’s intelligence services and criminal justice sector
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February 17, 2021
17
Feb'21
North Korean Lazarus Group hackers indicted in US
Charges filed relate to Lazarus Group’s long-running cyber crime spree, including financial theft and extortion, WannaCry malware and the cyber attack on Sony Pictures
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February 17, 2021
17
Feb'21
Egregor ransomware arrests confirmed
Authorities confirm that they have arrested an undisclosed number of cyber criminals associated with the Egregor ransomware
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February 17, 2021
17
Feb'21
HMRC denies misleading House of Lords over IT contractors’ use of tax avoidance schemes
MPs from Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group write to HMRC CEO Jim Harra to demand the department be investigated for breaching the civil service code
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February 17, 2021
17
Feb'21
Swedish central bank extends digital currency project
Sweden's central bank has extended its pilot of a digital currency for at least another year
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February 17, 2021
17
Feb'21
Law firm and cyber criminals clash over source of stolen data
Cyber attack victim Jones Day says its data was stolen in a supply chain attack, but the gang holding it to ransom disagrees
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February 16, 2021
16
Feb'21
Qatar regulator launches platform to monitor human understanding of financial crime
Qatari financial services regulator works with global body to provide digital platform to assess whether financial services workers understand how to prevent financial crime
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February 16, 2021
16
Feb'21
Egregor ransomware associates arrested amid disruption
Undisclosed number of arrests made in Ukraine after investigators tracked bitcoin ransom payments
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February 16, 2021
16
Feb'21
IR35 private sector reforms: HMRC reminds firms to use ‘reasonable care’ when applying new tax rules
As the countdown to the IR35 reforms being rolled out to the private sector continues apace, HM Revenue and Customs issues compliance guidance for firms in-scope of the new rules
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February 12, 2021
12
Feb'21
University benefited from early virtual desktop investments when pandemic struck
Edinburgh Napier University was able to react quickly to some of the main challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic
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February 12, 2021
12
Feb'21
UK border surveillance regime highly privatised, says Privacy International
Research from Privacy International raises concerns about the deep involvement of technology companies in the development and deployment of various technologies throughout the UK’s border regime, along with the lack of scrutiny they receive
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February 11, 2021
11
Feb'21
Hacked Finnish therapy business collapses
Vastaamo, the Finnish psychotherapy centre whose patients were blackmailed by a cyber criminal gang, has filed for bankruptcy
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February 11, 2021
11
Feb'21
Goldman Sachs reopens UK digital savings account
US banking giant resumes online account for UK savers after temporarily withdrawing it in response to high demand
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February 10, 2021
10
Feb'21
Sim-swapping crooks targeted celebrities, influencers
Eight arrests have been made in England and Scotland in connection with a series of Sim-swapping attacks targeting high-profile victims
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February 10, 2021
10
Feb'21
Tech sector calls for renewed cooperation in global digital tax talks
Industry groups want renewed multilateral negotiations between countries about taxation of the digital economy in the wake of Joe Biden’s election as US president
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February 09, 2021
09
Feb'21
Oracle claims major win in Australian public sector
Australian Data Centres will deploy Oracle’s Dedicated Region Cloud@Customer to host cloud services for the federal government
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February 09, 2021
09
Feb'21
Facebook sued for data-sharing practices with third parties
Data protection claim filed in London against social media giant for its alleged failure to give at least one million users in England and Wales meaningful control over their personal data
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February 09, 2021
09
Feb'21
IR35 private sector reforms: Deloitte confirms post-April 2021 ban on PSCs
Consultancy giant confirms that contractors will only be able to engage with it via a third-party umbrella or employment agency after April 2021, as part of its IR35 compliance strategy
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February 08, 2021
08
Feb'21
Get ready for fake work epidemic
Remote working has become a fact of life for many office-based workers during the pandemic, and there has also been a rise in remote staff monitoring
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February 08, 2021
08
Feb'21
Data of thousands of Dutch citizens leaked from government Covid-19 systems
Weak access controls and outdated systems blamed for leaking of the personal details of thousands of Dutch citizens tested for Covid-19
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February 08, 2021
08
Feb'21
Sweden to establish national cyber security centre
Sweden becomes latest Nordic state to establish a national cyber security centre as the threat landscape grows
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February 05, 2021
05
Feb'21
Security firm Stormshield loses source code in cyber attack
Source code from two products developed by French cyber security firm was compromised in a December 2020 incident
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February 05, 2021
05
Feb'21
Denmark and Sweden to issue digital vaccine certificates
Sweden and Denmark announce plans to develop digital certificates that prove people have been vaccinated against Covid-19
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February 04, 2021
04
Feb'21
Woodland Trust hit by cyber attack in December
Conservation charity is investigating what it describes as a ‘sophisticated’ cyber attack but has waited nearly two months to inform its members
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February 04, 2021
04
Feb'21
Fraud and cyber crime still vastly under-reported
The scale of digitally enabled crime in the UK is dramatically under-reported, new statistics indicate
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February 03, 2021
03
Feb'21
Has Covid-19 made bank branch closures easier to sell?
Big banks continue to close branches and invest more in technology as the Covid-19 pandemic makes a case for digital banking
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February 02, 2021
02
Feb'21
Nordic region provides autonomous vehicle test bed
Nordic region has the suppliers, environment and appetite for pioneering the development of autonomous vehicles
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February 01, 2021
01
Feb'21
UKRI suspends services after ransomware attack
UK Research and Innovation was hit by an undisclosed strain of ransomware at the end of January
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February 01, 2021
01
Feb'21
IR35 private sector reforms: Zurich Insurance under fire over contractor blanket ban
Zurich Insurance is the latest high-profile financial services company to declare contractors can only continue to engage with it via umbrella setups from April 2021, ahead of the IR35 rules coming into force
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January 29, 2021
29
Jan'21
Hunting and anti-hunting groups locked in tit-for-tat row over data gathering
The leaking of internal documents has prompted a row between pro- and anti-hunting groups about the legality of the other’s data collection practices
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January 29, 2021
29
Jan'21
Biometrics ethics group addresses public-private use of facial recognition
Home Office’s Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group releases briefing note on the use of live facial recognition in public–private collaborations following a year-long investigation
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January 28, 2021
28
Jan'21
Contactless payment limit could rise to £100 as FCA seeks industry views
UK financial services regulator is considering raising the contactless card payment limit to £100
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January 28, 2021
28
Jan'21
UK government reviews law on access to land for digital infrastructure
Reacting to reports that agreements have been slow to conclude, holding up the roll-out of better mobile and broadband connectivity, UK government consults on changes to the legal framework for agreements on access to land for digital infrastructure
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January 27, 2021
27
Jan'21
Pandemic response has improved privacy posture, says Cisco
Data privacy seems to be ‘coming of age’ to some extent and organisational responses to Covid-19 may be partly responsible, according to a report
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January 27, 2021
27
Jan'21
Emotet botnet goes offline as cops seize servers
The Emotet botnet has been disrupted and knocked offline after a major international effort by law enforcement
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January 27, 2021
27
Jan'21
Grindr complaint results in €9.6m GDPR fine
Norway’s data protection authority plans to apply a fine totalling 10% of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr’s revenues over its data sharing practices
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January 26, 2021
26
Jan'21
Conservatives broke data law to racially profile millions
The Conservative Party acted illegally in collecting data that inferred voters’ ethnicity and religious background, a Select Committee has heard
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January 26, 2021
26
Jan'21
ICO extends commissioner Denham’s term of office
Extension of Elizabeth Denham’s tenure as information commissioner will give the government more time to appoint her successor
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January 26, 2021
26
Jan'21
Cyber fraud a national security issue, says Rusi report
A report from the Rusi think tank calls for fresh approaches to how we think about fighting fraud
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January 25, 2021
25
Jan'21
Are banks overburdened with responsibility for money lost to online scams?
Bank boss calls for cross-industry cooperation to reduce scams that trick people into making instant payments online
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January 25, 2021
25
Jan'21
HMRC criticised over continued ‘shortcomings’ in loan charge policy response
House of Lords committee tells HMRC it still has work to do to improve its response to past criticisms of its handling of the government’s controversial loan charge policy
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January 22, 2021
22
Jan'21
ICO resumes adtech investigation
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office was criticised for ending its investigation into alleged malpractice in advertising technology, but has now resumed its probe
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January 22, 2021
22
Jan'21
Sepa data leaks as agency resists ransom demands
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is resisting extortion demands from a ransomware gang, but has suffered a data leak in retaliation
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January 22, 2021
22
Jan'21
Google threatens to cut off Australia
Google’s threat to end its Australian Search operation comes in the face of new legislation that would force it to pay media publishers for news content
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January 21, 2021
21
Jan'21
Immigration exemption in data protection law faces further legal challenge
Human rights groups set to take legal challenge against immigration exemption to Court of Appeal on the basis that everyone, regardless of their nationality or residence, should have their fundamental rights and freedoms protected as stated in the ...
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January 21, 2021
21
Jan'21
Interview: Tony Porter, chief privacy officer, Corsight AI
Tony Porter speaks to Computer Weekly about the changes in facial-recognition during his time as surveillance camera commissioner, the ethics of using the technology, and his new role as chief privacy officer at Corsight AI
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January 21, 2021
21
Jan'21
IR35 private sector reforms: IT contractors warned to be wary of non-compliant umbrella companies
The proliferation of websites offering comparison site-like services for umbrella companies has prompted tax experts to warn IT contractors of the financial risk posed by firms offering ‘too good to be true’ take-home pay rates
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January 19, 2021
19
Jan'21
Value of GDPR fines shows dramatic increase in 2020
European regulators imposed almost €160m worth of fines during the past 12 months, a substantial rise