News

IT legislation and regulation

• December 29, 2021 29 Dec'21

  Top 10 Nordic IT stories of 2021

  Computer Weekly selects some of the biggest Nordic tech stories of 2021

• December 24, 2021 24 Dec'21

  Top 10 IR35 stories of 2021

  The extension of the IR35 reforms to the private sector in April 2021 has provided Computer Weekly with lots to write about this year

• December 24, 2021 24 Dec'21

  Top 10 Benelux stories of 2021

  Computer Weekly looks at the top IT stories from the Benelux region in the past year

• December 23, 2021 23 Dec'21

  Top 10 Middle East IT stories of 2021

  The Middle East is about more than oil these days, with advanced technology industries developing across the region. Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Middle East IT stories of 2021

• December 21, 2021 21 Dec'21

  Large organisations turning to digital currencies for stored value

  Gartner predicts a major acceleration in the use of digital currencies over the next couple of years

• December 20, 2021 20 Dec'21

  Finnish government launches digital economy transformation projects

  The Finnish government launches two transformation projects as part of the country’s mission to pioneer a digital economy

• December 17, 2021 17 Dec'21

  HSBC fined £64m for automated transaction monitoring failures

  Bank hit by multimillion-pound fine for failures related to its transaction monitoring, which failed to spot potential money-laundering activity

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  Gig economy algorithmic management tools ‘unfair and opaque’

  Report published by Worker Info Exchange warns of algorithmically enabled rights abuses in the gig economy, noting the insufficient transparency of employers and the lacklustre nature of legal redress

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  Digital Ethics Summit: Innovation needs regulation to be ethical

  Experts attending the 2021 Digital Ethics Summit spoke out against the idea that regulation will stifle technological innovation, arguing that setting clear rules will produce more ethical innovation

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  UK government to take ‘whole-of-society’ approach to cyber

  Second iteration of the UK’s National Cyber Strategy broadens its focus to build a ‘whole-of-society’ security posture

• December 14, 2021 14 Dec'21

  Increased Altice BT shareholding fuels UK government jitters

  Significant increase in stakeholdership by potential buyer of UK incumbent telco prompts UK government to warn of potential threat to levelling-up agenda

• December 14, 2021 14 Dec'21

  Joint committee publishes report on improving Online Safety Bill

  MPs and peers release report on Online Safety Bill following five-month inquiry into the draft legislation and make a number of recommendations on how it can be improved to deal with harmful content and abuse on the internet

• December 13, 2021 13 Dec'21

  Scottish government announces support for right to disconnect

  The Scottish government is the first in the UK to publicly support a right to disconnect, which would give people the ability not engage in digitally enabled work-related activities outside of their contracted hours

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Julian Assange can be extradited to the US to face espionage and hacking charges, court rules

  High Court overturns decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder after US government gives assurances over his treatment

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Finland looks to democratise the ‘wild west’ of artificial intelligence

  Finland could play an important role in increasing the understanding of what artificial intelligence software can do for society

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Loan charge: Tax experts call on chancellor for simpler, more affordable policy settlement terms

  A group of tax barristers and accounting experts are calling on Rishi Sunak to force HMRC to revise its loan charge settlement terms

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  Russia may be collaborating with US to bring cyber criminals to heel

  Trustwave’s SpiderLabs says its analysis of chatter on underground dark web forums suggests cyber criminals are starting to panic that formerly ‘friendly’ governments are on their case

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  CIO interview: Nicola Wadham, Financial Ombudsman Service

  CIO Nicola Wadham brings Computer Weekly up to speed on the Financial Ombudsman Service’s IT challenges and successes

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  UK privacy chief denies conflict of interest in new role

  UK information commissioner will join a private law firm that represents technology companies she used to regulate, raising questions about conflicts of interest and drawing ‘revolving door’ criticisms

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  Number of .uk domain suspensions at record low

  Statistics from Nominet show how effective law enforcement action against cyber crime in the UK is paying off

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  Loan charge: MPs call on financial secretary for new independent review into HMRC policy

  In a seven-page letter to newly appointed Treasury minister Lucy Frazer, MPs highlight the legal flaws in HMRC's controversial loan charge policy and demand a new independent review

• December 06, 2021 06 Dec'21

  Streaming surges see BT chief call for new net neutrality regulations

  Marc Allera demands action on fairness in internet carriage as Amazon-hosted Premier League football drives new peak in traffic, 12% above previous high

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  IR35: Government consultation on umbrella companies fuels regulation hopes

  The government has embarked on a consultation to understand better how the umbrella market works, which is a move that has been cautiously welcomed by contracting market stakeholders

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  Bank of Ireland fined €24.5m for business continuity failures

  Bank of Ireland hit with multi-million euro fine by central bank following an investigation

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  Serious violence duty in PCSC Bill would gut UK data rights

  Proposed data gathering powers for UK police could override existing data protection rules, damage citizens’ trust in essential public services and further entrench discriminatory policing practices

• December 02, 2021 02 Dec'21

  IR35 reforms: Contractors report widespread blanket bans and project disruption in impacts survey

  A poll of more than 3,000 contractors about how the roll-out of the IR35 reforms affected them brings to light widespread use of blanket bans

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Unesco member states adopt AI ethics recommendation

  The non-binding recommendation seeks to define a common set of values and principles to guide the development of ethical AI globally

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Cloud-based Redwood becomes latest challenger bank to make a profit

  Cloud-based business bank becomes the latest of the new wave of challengers to achieve profit

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  HMRC denies outside-IR35 hiring ban as accounts reveal agency’s reliance on umbrella workers

  HM Revenue & Customs accounts reveal marked rise in total number of temporary workers it engages, with most of them providing services through umbrella firms

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  Financial Ombudsman Service takes step towards digital transformation with Workday

  Ombudsman uses human resource and financial management software in the cloud

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  Over 100 civil society groups call for changes to EU AI Act

  Civil, human and digital rights organisations sign open letter calling on European policymakers to put fundamental rights at the heart of the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act

• November 26, 2021 26 Nov'21

  UK’s surveillance culture may be normalising use of tech for abuse

  Intense surveillance of public spaces by UK authorities may be playing a part in the normalisation of cyber stalking in intimate relationships

• November 25, 2021 25 Nov'21

  Government must prove its plans to police encryption work, says ex-cyber security chief

  Ciaran Martin, the former UK cyber security chief, says the government must explain how it can access encrypted communications without damaging cyber security and weakening privacy

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Regulation of AI needed to avoid the mistakes of social media

  Government is urged to work with industry on a flexible regulatory framework to ensure the explainability, reliability and robustness of artificial intelligence

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Consumer cyber bill to protect mobiles, smart devices

  Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill will reinforce protections for consumer devices and mandate improvements to default security settings

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Apple sues under-fire malware firm NSO

  Lawsuit alleges spyware firm NSO Group targeted Apple’s users, adding to the pressure on the under-fire company

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Police tech introduced with little scrutiny or training

  A Lords inquiry into the adoption of advanced algorithmic technologies by police in England and Wales has been told that new tools are being introduced without proper training and with little scrutiny of their impacts

• November 23, 2021 23 Nov'21

  FTTH Council Europe calls on policymakers for measures to reap full-fibre rewards

  Industry organisation with a mission to advance ubiquitous full-fibre connectivity across Europe welcomes publication of the European Commission’s latest ‘Digital economy and society index’ and calls for demand-side measures to boost take-up of ...

• November 19, 2021 19 Nov'21

  UK government announces safety tech challenge fund winners

  The Safety Tech Challenge Fund winners will now develop technologies to limit the spread of child abuse material in encrypted environments, which the government has claimed will not be repurposed for other uses

• November 19, 2021 19 Nov'21

  GCHQ, NSA chiefs recommit to counter cyber threats

  UK and US intelligence services reaffirm a joint commitment to disrupt and deter new and emerging cyber threats

• November 18, 2021 18 Nov'21

  UK government enshrines law to strip out ‘high-risk’ suppliers’ tech from networks

  UK Telecommunications (Security) Act receives Royal Assent, mandating stronger legal duties on telecoms firms to protect the UK’s networks and giving the government new powers to control use of high-risk suppliers

• November 18, 2021 18 Nov'21

  Sky ECC provided free cryptophones to a Canadian police force

  Internal emails disclosed in a US court show how Sky Global supplied sample encrypted phones to a Canadian police force before its phone users became subject to an international police investigation

• November 18, 2021 18 Nov'21

  Cryptophone supplier Sky Global takes legal action over US government website seizures

  Canadian tech company Sky Global has filed a legal motion claiming that the US government unlawfully seized the company’s internet sites following police investigations into the use of its cryptophones by organised crime

• November 16, 2021 16 Nov'21

  One-fifth of NCSC-supported cyber incidents linked to Covid-19

  National Cyber Security Centre has helped to thwart multiple cyber incidents that could have seriously disrupted the UK’s response to the pandemic

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  UK government proposes new rules for digital supply chain security

  Proposals could see IT service providers legally required to adhere to the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework, among other things

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  Openreach in consultation over next stage in transition to fibre

  BT-owned UK broadband provision firm accelerates plan to stop selling copper-based broadband and traditional voice services, aiming to use five pilot areas to develop and test approaches for mass-migrating end-users to new digital offers

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  Government bodies refuse FOI requests on basis of misleading database search times, says academic

  The Information Commissioner’s Office tells tribunal it would need to bring in external experts to search data using an Excel spreadsheet

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  CaixaBank system normal after migration of millions of customer accounts

  Spain’s CaixaBank has successfully completed the migration of millions of Bankia customers to its systems

• November 12, 2021 12 Nov'21

  New law needed to rein in AI-powered workplace surveillance

  MPs and peers call for new legislation to regulate the growing use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, which is being used to surveil workers’ performance and behaviour

• November 12, 2021 12 Nov'21

  Ofcom introduces rules to ease rural broadband development

  UK comms regulator aims to address key issue preventing proliferation of gigabit broadband to hard-to-reach places