News
IT legislation and regulation
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June 29, 2020
29
Jun'20
Airports deploy thermal cameras to control Covid-19, science suggests it’s merely ‘safety theatre’
UK airports are rolling out thermal surveillance cameras to identify people who may have coronavirus, but science says the technology is ineffective at detecting and preventing the spread of the disease
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June 26, 2020
26
Jun'20
Enterprises in rural Wales to gain added fibre as voucher scheme doubles in value
Vouchers subsidise the cost for rural homes and businesses to install next-generation, gigabit-capable broadband
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June 25, 2020
25
Jun'20
Pub ‘check-in’ apps provoke fresh privacy concerns
With pubs and restaurants required to collect customer data for contact tracing when they reopen, data privacy risks will be heightened
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June 24, 2020
24
Jun'20
EU judges GDPR an overall success, but changes still needed
Two years after its implementation, an EU report says that the GDPR is achieving what it set out to do, with a few reservations
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June 23, 2020
23
Jun'20
UK counts the cost as Ireland presses ahead with contact-tracing app
Irish eyes smiling as Republic’s heath executive said to be on verge of giving greenlight to Covid-19 tracker app, while UK reveals £11.8m cost of development to date for no return as yet
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June 23, 2020
23
Jun'20
Nokia claims US live C-band network demo first
Ahead of the expected US spectrum auction in December 2020, Nokia completes first successful US-based 5G trial in C-band
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June 22, 2020
22
Jun'20
Care Quality Commission to discuss concerns over Paula Vennells’ NHS role
Healthcare regulator will be discussing concerns about former NHS boss chairing an NHS trust at an upcoming meeting
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June 19, 2020
19
Jun'20
Eurostar to roll out facial recognition for ‘passport-free’ travel to Europe
Facial recognition will make passports on the Eurotunnel an option rather than a necessity, but privacy campaigners have questioned whether gathering biometric data on passengers is necessary
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June 19, 2020
19
Jun'20
Technology firms come under scrutiny for ties to law enforcement
Three major technology companies have committed to not selling facial-recognition tech to law enforcement, but remain silent on how other technologies can be used to fuel racial injustice and discriminatory policing
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June 19, 2020
19
Jun'20
AI bias and privacy issues require more than clever tech
The new AI Barometer report from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has assessed the threats and opportunities of artificial intelligence in the UK
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June 18, 2020
18
Jun'20
iPhone issues see UK government dump centralised model for Covid-19 contact-tracing app
Department for Health makes U-turn on contact-tracing app after trial finds distances are not measured well enough, with particular detection problems for app users with Apple iPhones
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June 17, 2020
17
Jun'20
Malaysia’s telco industry on edge amid new developments, appointments
Spotlight trained on newly appointed key regulatory personnel that could see a change in Malaysia’s telco policy, including a deferment of 5G roll-out
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June 16, 2020
16
Jun'20
UK-US data deal puts Brexit data adequacy pact at risk
European Data Protection Board writes to MEPs saying the UK is at risk of failing to strike a post-Brexit data adequacy accord if its data protection agreements with the US don’t strike the right note
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June 15, 2020
15
Jun'20
NatWest develops behavioural biometrics as additional authentication
Bank is working with Visa to develop behavioural biometrics technology as an extra layer of invisible authentication
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June 12, 2020
12
Jun'20
Salisbury becomes UK’s first city to go fully full-fibre
Politicians and broadband provision unit urge homes and businesses to switch to a new ultra-fast and ultra-reliable broadband network
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June 12, 2020
12
Jun'20
Minister downgrades status of UK contact-tracing app from vital to ‘cherry on cake’
Scientists warn of fundamental flaws of Bluetooth technology in proximity measurement function of much-delayed app
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June 12, 2020
12
Jun'20
Subpostmasters will not cooperate with government review into IT scandal
A group of subpostmasters who suffered at the hands of the Post Office’s error-prone IT system refuse to participate in a government review into the scandal, describing it as a sham
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June 11, 2020
11
Jun'20
Tech firms respond to Nordic government calls
Nordic firms are working with tech suppliers to help them get back up and running after Covid-19
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June 11, 2020
11
Jun'20
Amazon bans police use of its facial-recognition technology for a year
Tech giant claims it has been an advocate for stronger government regulation on the ethical use of facial recognition
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June 10, 2020
10
Jun'20
IBM divests from facial-recognition market
IBM’s CEO writes to US congress about decision to stop using and selling facial-recognition technology, and says we should re-evaluate whether it should be sold to law enforcement agencies
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June 10, 2020
10
Jun'20
CogX 2020: Rethinking technological innovation
Innovation processes and relationships must be fundamentally restructured to bring in more stakeholders, and spread the benefits of technological change as far as possible
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June 10, 2020
10
Jun'20
Nasty surprises lurking in furloughed employees’ inboxes
Research conducted by KnowBe4 points to a looming email security problem as furloughed employees head back to work
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June 04, 2020
04
Jun'20
Dutch organisations invest heavily in compliance – but in vain
Despite the fact that companies in the Netherlands have invested heavily to comply with GDPR legislation introduced two years ago, 90% of them are still discovering fundamental weaknesses in their IT environment
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June 04, 2020
04
Jun'20
Government evades being pinned to a date for online harms legislation
MPs challenge government on online harms bill timetable, but have to settle for “clear assurances” that it will brought to parliament before the end of the session
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June 04, 2020
04
Jun'20
Data privacy groups pile in on UK contact-tracing app
UK-based digital privacy and free speech campaigning organisation files complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office about contact-tracing app
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June 04, 2020
04
Jun'20
The Security Interviews: How the BSI protects the IoT from itself
David Mudd of the BSI reveals how a pragmatic and realistic approach to security vulnerabilities underpins its internet of things kitemark, helping give users the confidence to buy smart devices safely
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June 04, 2020
04
Jun'20
Malaysian minister backtracks on spectrum allocation decision
Amid reports of a surreptitious decision to allocate spectrum to five Malaysian operators, the communications minister rescinds his own order, calling for a more transparent review of the allocation process
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June 03, 2020
03
Jun'20
US senator implores UK legislators to ban Huawei from telecoms networks
US senator tells committee of MPs that deployment of Huawei in UK 5G phone networks would have been the equivalent of allowing Russia to build submarines during the Cold War
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June 02, 2020
02
Jun'20
NIS security regulations proving effective, but more work to do
The UK’s NIS cyber security and risk regulations are proving somewhat effective, according to a government report
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June 01, 2020
01
Jun'20
Coronavirus: Government under renewed pressure to ramp up support for limited company directors
Chancellor of the Exchequer's announced extensions of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme prompt renewed calls for more tailored financial support for limited companies
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May 29, 2020
29
May'20
Trump signs executive order targeting social media firms
US president moves to weaken legal protections for social media companies after Twitter takes action on his posts
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May 29, 2020
29
May'20
Test and Trace has not passed data protection impact assessment
Public Health England failed to complete the required impact assessment before launching the Covid-19 Test and Trace programme
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May 28, 2020
28
May'20
IT contractors hit by delays in Covid-19 furlough scheme payments from umbrella companies
A lack of clarity over how Covid-19-related furlough pay calculations should be totalled up for IT contractors working for umbrella companies has left many facing financial hardship, it is claimed
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May 28, 2020
28
May'20
European General Court annuls ban on proposed Three UK/O2 merger
Court reverses European Commission judgment blocking 2016 purchase of leading UK mobile providers
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May 28, 2020
28
May'20
Public Health England to keep contact-tracing data for 20 years
PHE will retain the data it collects via the NHS Test and Trace programme for 20 years
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May 28, 2020
28
May'20
UK government unveils NHS Test and Trace service to combat Covid-19
UK government unveils framework to stop the spread of coronavirus, but contact-tracing launch date not revealed
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May 27, 2020
27
May'20
Fears contact-tracing app will open the floodgates for cyber criminals
Study of UK consumers reveals worries over an uptick in cyber crime and a lack of trust in government
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May 26, 2020
26
May'20
Max Schrems accuses Ireland of ‘Kafkaesque’ delay in Facebook GDPR investigation
Privacy campaigner Max Schrems has urged the European Commission to intervene after the Irish Data Protection Commission allegedly used ‘Kafkaesque’ tactics to delay investigations into Facebook’s compliance with GDPR
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May 26, 2020
26
May'20
The Security Interviews: Temper tantrums ahead as GDPR enters its terrible twos?
On the General Data Protection Regulation’s second birthday, Tim Hickman, a data protection lawyer and partner at White & Case LLP, discusses the regulation’s teething troubles and assesses how best to maintain optimum compliance
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May 26, 2020
26
May'20
Thailand gears up for 5G
Thai government forms 26-member committee to develop a roadmap for 5G adoption and address roadblocks related to the recall of unused spectrum from state agencies
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May 22, 2020
22
May'20
EasyJet to be sued over customer data breach
If successful, airline’s potential liability for the loss of millions of customer records could be as high as £18bn
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May 22, 2020
22
May'20
Hancock to Harman: No contact-tracing privacy law
Health secretary claims existing data protection law is good enough to guarantee the security of contact-tracing data
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May 21, 2020
21
May'20
UK contact-tracing app set to miss official launch date as Google, Apple release API
Government ministers aim to shore up contact-tracing strategy after junior minister concedes much-publicised app set miss-stated start date and Silicon Valley giants officially launch API for apps that follow different route than NHS
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May 21, 2020
21
May'20
Facial-recognition suppliers race to identify hidden faces
The number of companies claiming to have developed facial-recognition tools that can identify masked faces has skyrocketed since the start of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic
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May 19, 2020
19
May'20
GDPR wholly inappropriate to govern contact-tracing data
Human Rights Committee Chair Harriet Harman says current data protection law is not up to the job of governing the data collected by the Covid-19 contact-tracing app
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May 19, 2020
19
May'20
Nine million EasyJet customer details lost in data breach
Cyber attack on EasyJet’s systems originated from a highly sophisticated source, says the airline
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May 18, 2020
18
May'20
Privacy advocates demand clarity over Covid-19 datastore
Government and NHS face questions about the involvement of private technology companies with coronavirus datastore
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May 14, 2020
14
May'20
Harman seeks to bring private member’s bill over contact tracing
Chair of Human Rights Committee aims to put the proposed Contact Tracing (Data Protection) Bill 2020 before parliament as a private member’s bill if necessary
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May 14, 2020
14
May'20
Deutsche Bank’s planned tech spend unaffected by global crisis
Deutsche bank is driving on with its ambitious IT investment plans, with the Covid-19 pandemic, if anything, adding fuel to it
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May 13, 2020
13
May'20
Report reveals inadequate cyber security at Schiphol Airport
A report has revealed problems with critical security systems in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport