News

IT legislation and regulation

• February 14, 2020 14 Feb'20

  CIO Interview: Siim Sikkut, Estonian government CIO

  Siim Sikkut is one of a generation of tech native Estonians, who is turning his knowledge and experience to transforming government services

• February 13, 2020 13 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: IT contractors weigh up their post-April 2020 work options

  There are eight weeks to go until the IR35 reforms come into play for the private sector, but the IT contractor community is already feeling the effects of HMRC’s latest disguised employment clampdown

• February 12, 2020 12 Feb'20

  Communications watchdog Ofcom to gain extra powers as online harms regulator

  The government has released its initial response to 2019’s Online Harms White Paper, setting out a number of decisions about how it will regulate harmful content on the internet

• February 12, 2020 12 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Protesters demand government halts April 2020 roll-out date

  With contractors due to stage an anti-IR35 reform protest march at the Houses of Parliament today, stakeholders pen open letter to the Chancellor outlining their concerns about how the changes are affecting the self-employed sector

• February 11, 2020 11 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Research suggests 75% of contractors will leave posts by April 2020

  Just eight weeks before the IR35 reforms are due to be extended to the private sector, new research suggests contractors are planning to vote with their feet and leave their positions as blanket bans take hold

• February 10, 2020 10 Feb'20

  What should be in Australia’s next cyber security strategy

  The Australian government is reviewing the nation’s cyber security strategy, but is it looking at the right issues?

• February 10, 2020 10 Feb'20

  AI in public service must be accountable

  Committee on Standards in Public Life recommends that government departments make ethics a top priority when tendering artificial intelligence systems

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: HMRC confirms last-minute tweak to incoming off-payroll rules

  The government is rolling out a tweak to the IR35 private sector reforms that it claims will give businesses more time to prepare, but stakeholders are unconvinced

• February 06, 2020 06 Feb'20

  IR35 reforms subject to pre-Budget inquiry as self-employed hit by crisis of confidence

  The House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee is calling for an immediate inquiry into the real-world impacts of the IR35 reforms on private sector businesses and contractors

• February 05, 2020 05 Feb'20

  Loan charge MPs quiz contractors on ‘unreasonable behaviour’ claims made about HMRC’s case handling

  The Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group’s first meeting results in cross-party group of MPs quizzing contractors on their dealings with HM Revenue and Customs

• February 04, 2020 04 Feb'20

  MI5 faces court ruling over unlawful surveillance warrants

  Privacy groups Liberty and Privacy International ask the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to order MI5 to disclose full details of ‘unlawful’ conduct, after classified documents reveal the spy agency failed to comply with surveillance laws

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  Digital strategy for 2020-2030 sets out police technology plans

  National policing strategy sets a number of technological ambitions for the next decade, placing a particular emphasis on collaborative working and building common standards or frameworks

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  Cost-cutting and digital transformation spur increased European IT outsourcing in 2019

  The need to rein in costs while digitally transforming has led to growth in traditional and as-a-service base outsourcing

• January 31, 2020 31 Jan'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: BP contractors notified of incoming ban on PSCs

  BP is understood to have begun notifying its self-employed workforce about its plans to terminate PSC engagements from 31 March 2020, in anticipation of the IR35 reforms coming into play the following month

• January 31, 2020 31 Jan'20

  Davos: The clock is ticking on climate change but cyber crime and emerging technologies add to risks

  Climate change, natural disasters, extreme weather and loss of biodiversity are the greatest risks we face. With cyber conflicts, state-sponsored hacking and internet fragmentation, doing nothing is not an option, says the World Economic Forum

• January 30, 2020 30 Jan'20

  Microsoft contractor hit by health and safety violation claims at Israel datacentre building site

  Microsoft declines to comment on a local media report that the site of its Israel datacentre campus has been subject to stoppage notices after two accidents there in two days

• January 29, 2020 29 Jan'20

  EU implements 5G infrastructure restrictions on ‘high-risk’ suppliers

  European countries follow UK’s lead and give member states the ability to ban or limit so-called high-risk telecoms equipment suppliers from 5G networks

• January 29, 2020 29 Jan'20

  IR35 reforms are 'demonising' contractors and locking them out of work, chancellor warned

  The CEO of online accountancy consultancy InniAccounts has written to the chancellor of the exchequer, Sajid Javid, to call for legislation to be passed that will ensure enterprises take time to individually assess tax status of contractors

• January 28, 2020 28 Jan'20

  Data privacy benefits outweigh spend, says Cisco

  Cisco’s 2020 data privacy study shows organisations can generate substantial returns on their data privacy and protection spending

• January 27, 2020 27 Jan'20

  Openreach extends full-fibre network to rural UK

  UK national broadband infrastructure provider ramps up programme to deliver full-fibre to 200 locations, mainly towns and villages hitherto not passed by network

• January 24, 2020 24 Jan'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Bank of America IT contractors await verdict on future employment terms

  Despite notifying staff of its intentions to phase out contractors from its workforce in December 2019, IT contractors at the Bank of America are still awaiting clarification about what their future at the firm will look like, Computer Weekly has ...

• January 23, 2020 23 Jan'20

  Seven projects funded to explore CAV security

  The winners of the Cyber Securities Feasibility Studies contest, exploring cyber security for self-driving cars, have been revealed

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  Computer Misuse Act ‘crying out for reform’

  Group of campaigners says the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 risks criminalising cyber security professionals and needs reforming

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  ICO code sets out digital privacy standards for children

  The Information Commissioner’s Office has published its Age Appropriate Design Code, a set of 15 standards that online platforms must meet to protect the privacy of younger users

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  Singapore updates model AI governance framework

  Second edition of Singapore’s artificial intelligence governance framework includes new guidance, use cases and a self-assessment guide

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Recruitment industry urges chancellor to halt April 2020 roll-out

  Major players from the UK recruitment industry want the government to delay plans to roll out the IR35 reforms to the private sector so enterprises have more time to prepare

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  Loan charge under review: HMRC to invest £200,000 in readying IT systems for planned policy changes

  Tax collection agency counts costs of having to upgrade IT systems to prepare for incoming changes to its controversial loan charge disguised remuneration policy, which has left thousands of IT contractors facing financial ruin

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  High-street banks face disruption three weeks after Travelex hack

  Foreign exchange services still disrupted, three weeks after Travelex received a $6m ransom demand from cyber gangsters

• January 20, 2020 20 Jan'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: IBM joins list of enterprises applying blanket ban to PSCs

  Tech giant IBM has notified its personal service company IT contractors that they must switch to PAYE terms or use umbrella companies from the end of March, as the private sector races to achieve IR35 compliance

• January 20, 2020 20 Jan'20

  GDPR nets more than €100m in fines, with more to come

  Fines totalling €114m have already been collected under GDPR, and this figure will spike in 2020 if the UK regulator succeeds in imposing record fines on BA and Marriott

• January 20, 2020 20 Jan'20

  Norway’s government to upgrade digital in school curriculum

  Primary and secondary schools in Norway will introduce more digital learning, following the latest government reforms

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  App developers sue Facebook over ‘anti-competitive conduct’

  Lawsuit is based on leaked internal Facebook documents obtained and published by Computer Weekly and NBC last year

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  CAA debuts aviation cyber security assurance scheme

  Civil Aviation Authority and Crest announce the first companies to be accredited under the CAA’s new cyber security oversight scheme, Assure

• January 16, 2020 16 Jan'20

  UK’s phone and internet bulk data surveillance unlawful, says EU court opinion

  The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice issues legal opinions finding that the UK, French and Belgian bulk surveillance regimes are unlawful

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  TSB signs up IBM Services and announces Edinburgh tech hub

  TSB has contracted IBM to provide hybrid cloud services as part of its £120m digital transformation plans, which will see more tech jobs in Scotland

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  LGBTQ+ social app Grindr accused of breaching GDPR

  Norwegian Consumer Council files complaints about LGBTQ+ social networking app, alleging it is in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Openreach extends free fibre installation scheme for UK home developers

  UK broadband infrastructure provider drops the threshold for free eligibility to its fibre delivery scheme for new-build houses from 30 to 20 homes

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Maxis and Huawei team up on 5G as Malaysia outlines spectrum allocation plan

  Maxis's partnership with Huawei to develop 5G use cases and services comes on the heels of Malaysia's recently announced spectrum allocation plan

• January 13, 2020 13 Jan'20

  Travelex to begin restoring foreign exchange services two weeks after ‘Sodinokibi’ attack

  Travelex says it is making “good progress” in its recovery and is to begin restoring electronic foreign exchange services, but is silent about whether it has agreed to pay hackers a $6m ransom to decrypt computer files

• January 10, 2020 10 Jan'20

  Scottish government misses national superfast broadband target

  SNP government admits failing to meet ambitious target to roll out broadband of at least 30Mbps to all Scottish homes and businesses by 2021

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Travelex hackers threaten to sell credit card data on dark web

  Sodinokibi cyber gangsters have threatened to sell Travelex customers’ private data on a Russian underground cyber crime forum if it fails to pay a $6m ransom

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Retail group Dixons Carphone fined £500,000 over data breach

  Dixons Carphone receives maximum possible pre-GDPR fine from the ICO following a 2018 data breach

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Don’t become the next Travelex: Get ready for ransomware

  With Travelex’s IT still in disarray and banks and travellers left without access to funds more than a week after it was hit by a ransomware attack, we ask what others can learn from the foreign exchange services company’s response to the incident

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  UK government begins legal process to bring about full-fibre roll-out

  First steps on the legislative journey for UK government to make good on election commitments to bring full fibre across the UK

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  ITS to fast-track full-fibre roll-out gains with £45m investment

  Gigabit network operator ITS plans to use latest funding to move into several new areas across the UK to build full-fibre networks which will pass at least 200,000 premises

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  New GDPR service aims to ease compliance challenges

  Security consultants claim their software platform will address a pressing need for an effective and efficient means of complying with data protection rules

• January 08, 2020 08 Jan'20

  Half of UK citizens want tighter data regulations

  Over 50% of UK citizens believe the gathering and use of personal data should be subject to more stringent government oversight, according to Fujitsu

• January 08, 2020 08 Jan'20

  Ofcom announces plans to ‘supercharge’ investment in fibre broadband

  Regulator says proposals to upgrade UK broadband infrastructure will transform the business case for national full-fibre investment in towns, cities and villages

• January 07, 2020 07 Jan'20

  Government confirms IR35 private sector reforms under review ahead of April 2020 start date

  Government honours pledge to embark on a review of its plans to extend the IR35 off-payroll rules to the private sector that will focus on ensuring the changes are introduced in a “smooth” way in April 2020

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  UK cyber security boss Ciaran Martin to step down

  NCSC chief Ciaran Martin will leave his post in the summer of 2020