News

IT legislation and regulation

• August 26, 2020 26 Aug'20

  Unwired Planet wins patent licensing case against Huawei

  Landmark ruling goes in favour of Unwired Planet and Conversant Wireless and may define the future of telecoms patent licensing

• August 25, 2020 25 Aug'20

  TikTok takes Trump to court

  Under-fire video app TikTok files a formal complaint in the federal courts challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to ban it in the US

• August 21, 2020 21 Aug'20

  Loan charge: Tax compliance charity demands criminal fraud investigation into scheme promoters

  Tax compliance think tank TaxWatch is calling for a criminal fraud investigation to be launched into the promoters of disguised remuneration schemes to curb the continued proliferation of new tax avoidance arrangements

• August 21, 2020 21 Aug'20

  TikTok’s GDPR compliance probed amid accusations of data misuse

  Dutch privacy organisation SOMI claims TikTok falls short in protecting young users, and that it is likely violating GDPR

• August 21, 2020 21 Aug'20

  MPs accuse ICO of failing to do its job on contact-tracing data

  Cross-party group of MPs say the ICO has failed to enforce data protection standards or hold the government to account over the unlawful Test and Trace programme

• August 20, 2020 20 Aug'20

  UKAS rejects ISO certification concerns

  UK’s certification body says refreshed guidance is in place to cover the possibility of lapsed ISO certifications

• August 20, 2020 20 Aug'20

  Social media data leak highlights murky world of data scraping

  A data brokerage left its database of 235 million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles exposed to anybody who cared to access it

• August 19, 2020 19 Aug'20

  Coronavirus: Thousands of ISO certifications set to lapse

  Delays and postponements in the auditing process are putting hard-earned security and data protection certifications at risk of lapsing

• August 19, 2020 19 Aug'20

  Loan charge MPs urge chancellor to get HMRC to soften contractor settlements

  Co-chairs of Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group write to Rishi Sunak to seek a fairer deal for contractors caught by HMRC’s disguised remuneration policy

• August 18, 2020 18 Aug'20

  UK government needs a joined-up internet policy

  Global internet firms want government to ensure its new digital strategy has coherent policy and regulatory goals

• August 17, 2020 17 Aug'20

  The Security Interviews: How Crest is remaking the future of consultancy

  Crest president Ian Glover taught himself cyber security while working on government computing systems in the 1970s and 1980s. Now he is on a decade-spanning mission to change security consultancy models

• August 14, 2020 14 Aug'20

  ICO acknowledges GDPR concerns over A-level results scandal

  Information Commissioner’s Office says it has engaged with exams regulator Ofqual after its use of an algorithm to calculate A-level grades backfired

• August 14, 2020 14 Aug'20

  US decision to file new charges against Julian Assange ‘astonishing and potentially abusive’

  Lawyer for WikiLeaks founder slams US decision to serve a second indictment at the 11th hour alleging that Assange conspired with hackers, as a potential abuse of process

• August 14, 2020 14 Aug'20

  Oracle and Salesforce sued over online ad tracking

  Class action lawsuits filed in Amsterdam and London will accuse Oracle and Salesforce of breaching GDPR in their processing and sharing of personal data to sell online advertising

• August 13, 2020 13 Aug'20

  Loan charge: HMRC tells contractors not to ‘hold out hope’ of revised down settlements emerging

  With the 30 September 2020 loan charge policy settlement date fast approaching, HM Revenue & Customs tells those in its scope to abandon hope of revised down settlements being offered at this stage

• August 12, 2020 12 Aug'20

  EU and US start discussions on ‘enhanced’ Privacy Shield data-sharing agreement

  Talks begin on a successor to the Privacy Shield EU-US data-sharing agreement declared unlawful in July 2020 – a decision by the European Court of Justice that left thousands of businesses facing legal uncertainty

• August 12, 2020 12 Aug'20

  Police use of facial recognition found ‘unlawful’ in court

  In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal has ruled that South Wales Police’s facial recognition deployments breached human rights and data protection laws

• August 11, 2020 11 Aug'20

  French data protection authorities to probe TikTok as suitors circle

  France’s CNIL has confirmed a new investigation into TikTok’s data protection practices

• August 11, 2020 11 Aug'20

  Hospitality sector is failing on contact-tracing obligations

  Cyber security experts urge the government to do more to help small hospitality businesses improve their contact-tracing data-handling practices

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  Isle of Wight trial shows positive effect of contact-tracing app, but data privacy body slams UK

  Rare piece of good news for long-awaited but much-criticised mobile app as technical conference highlights the positive outcomes for first large public test of coronavirus contact-tracing service

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  Data Standards Authority publishes guidance on government data sharing

  The Data Standards Authority (DSA) wants government departments to use new open data standards when sharing data, with the aim of improving public services

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  TikTok to be banned in US in 45 days

  Trump says his Executive Orders against Chinese mobile apps are in the interests of dealing with a national emergency

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  India’s software industry calls for cuts to red tape

  Software industry lobby group iSpirt has called on the Indian government to ease the administrative burden of complying with rules related to taxes and trade

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  If you hire foreign IT staff, ‘you’re fired’, Trump tells bosses in government-owned entities

  Donald Trump has fired a pre-election warning to government organisations that give IT jobs to workers from overseas

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  Canon said to be latest Maze ransomware victim

  Canon may have had up to 10TB of its data exfiltrated by the Maze ransomware gang

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  Coronavirus: IT contractors cite lack of government support during Covid-19 as source of stress

  ContractorCalculator research highlights the mental health toll the pandemic is taking on IT contractors

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  Footballers to take legal action over use of performance and tracking data

  Planned lawsuit will argue that the use of players’ statistics by third-party companies is incompatible with footballers’ data rights

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Home Office drops ‘racist’ visa algorithm

  The Home Secretary has pledged to stop using an algorithmic decision-making system to assess visa applications after migrant welfare and technology justice groups challenged the tool for helping to create a hostile environment for migrants

• August 04, 2020 04 Aug'20

  Police require radical reform to deal with 21st century challenges

  Early findings from a major review of policing reveal forces are struggling to keep pace with the changing nature of crime

• August 04, 2020 04 Aug'20

  Google links with eight US banks for current accounts

  Tech giant works with banks to layer digital services on top of secure and regulated banking infrastructures

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Microsoft offers way out of TikTok impasse

  Microsoft offers to buy TikTok from its Chinese parent to ease security fears in the US

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  Labour Party is latest victim of Blackbaud ransomware attack

  Widening Blackbaud data breach ensnares the Labour Party as the cloud software firm continues to duck questions about its behaviour

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  US lawmakers grill big tech chiefs over market power

  Sixth antitrust hearing sees CEOs of major technology companies face combative questioning from members of Congress over their market power and dominance

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  UK contact-tracing app to be launched ‘shortly’ as Northern Ireland deploys service

  Launch imminent for long-awaited and controversial mobile application described as ‘cherry on the cake’ of UK’s Covid-19 test and trace strategy

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  EU sanctions China and Russia over cyber attacks

  The EU is applying restrictive measure to six individuals and three entities accused of conducting disruptive cyber attacks in Europe, including the Russian GRU

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  Barclays CEO says Canary Wharf office set to stay despite home working success

  Barclays chief says the success of home working during the Covid-19 pandemic has taught the banks lessons, one of which is that major centres like Canary Wharf will remain

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  List of Blackbaud breach victims tops 120

  More than 120 education and third-sector organisations may have had their data compromised through the breach of Blackbaud’s cloud platform

• July 29, 2020 29 Jul'20

  Bank of Ireland fined for six-year-old IT breach

  Bank of Ireland fined by regulator for its failings to prevent fraud six years ago

• July 29, 2020 29 Jul'20

  Campaigners urge government to resist big tech lobbying pressure

  Lobbyists for big tech, supported by senior US politicians, have rallied against stricter regulation of technology companies, and threatened the US-UK trade deal unless Britain scraps plans to levy a digital services tax

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  De Montfort, KCL, Newcastle universities join list of Blackbaud victims

  Embattled cloud services provider now has big questions to answer over its handling of data belonging to UK universities and charities

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  Garmin may have paid hackers ransom, reports suggest

  Garmin’s services are coming back online, but the company remains tight-lipped about what exactly happened to it

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  NCSC names national security expert Lindy Cameron as new CEO

  New National Cyber Security Centre head joins from the Northern Ireland Office and has spent 20 years in government at home and abroad

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  Scotland’s security resilience centre concept goes national

  Based on the success of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, a series of regional Cyber Resilience Centres are now launching across the rest of the UK

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  Ofcom to free up additional spectrum for wireless services

  Regulator takes steps to boost home network users who are now in their home offices and will be there for a considerable period of time

• July 27, 2020 27 Jul'20

  IT expertise in banking boardrooms reduces risk, finds Europe’s central bank

  Banks with more IT knowledge in the boardroom are more realistic about risk, according to Europe’s banking regulator

• July 24, 2020 24 Jul'20

  Loan charge: HMRC's plans to clampdown on loan-scheme promoters slammed by IT contractors

  HMRC is seeking feedback on its plans to tackle tax-avoidance scheme promoters, in the wake of criticism over its past enforcement of the loan-charge policy

• July 23, 2020 23 Jul'20

  UK government ignored civil service warning of no benefit in acquisition of OneWeb

  Civil service revealed to have taken the rare step of alerting government that $500m investment in troubled satellite company would bring no discernible benefit

• July 23, 2020 23 Jul'20

  Post-Privacy Shield, what chance for a Brexit data adequacy deal?

  The striking down of Privacy Shield has been hailed as a victory for digital rights and privacy campaign groups, but it will have consequences that go beyond transatlantic data transfers

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  Slack takes legal route against ‘weak, copycat’ Teams

  Microsoft could be set for another joust with the EU, as its rival, Slack, files an anti-competitive complaint

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  BNP Paribas joins IBM financial services cloud project

  IBM’s financial services cloud is gathering steam as more banks join its public cloud ecosystem of finance firms and developers