The Great Hack has just dropped on Netflix (IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes | wikipedia | poster left). It is a documentary that explores “how a data company named Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election”. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Category: Surveillance (Page 3 of 4)
The term “ghost protocol” might remind you of a famous blockbuster starring Tom Cruise, but here it applies to a new proposal by the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in the United Kingdom. Continue reading
It is often argued that the UK is the most surveilled country on the planet. This may or may not have been the case in the past but there are certainly now millions of surveillance cameras in public spaces – not to mention private buildings and homes. Continue reading
The right to privacy has become a pressing human rights issue. And rightly so. Big data — combined with artificial intelligence and facial recognition software — has the capacity to intrude on people’s lives in unprecedented ways, in some cases on a massive scale. Continue reading
A bumper crop of pending litigation and legislative initiatives for the coming year (without even thinking about Brexit). Continue reading
The announcement from human rights organisation Liberty that it would boycott the UK Home Office’s consultation on the Law Enforcement Data Service, a new super-database for the police, is an indication of how far from acceptable the project is. Continue reading
Yesterday I was transported back in time, to that surreal period following the Snowden revelations in 2013 when anyone who knew anything about the previously obscure RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) was in demand to explain how it was that GCHQ was empowered to conduct bulk interception on a previously unimagined scale. Continue reading
With the election now in the past, the wheels of government are beginning to grind again. While most eyes are on Brussels, it is important that the bright lights of Brexit do not draw attention away from other work that is resuming and ongoing. Among it, the Law Commission will continue its project that considers the revision of the laws on Official Secrets, with its final proposals expected later this year. Continue reading
The recent cyber attack that crippled the NHS demonstrated why cyber-security is a vital issue and one that can affect an entire country. The recent terrorist attack in Manchester also reminded people what’s at stake when deciding what data gathering and surveillance powers the government should have. Continue reading
It has been said that Britain has more surveillance cameras than any other country in the world. This proliferation of CCTV cameras led the government to establish a surveillance camera commissioner responsible for overseeing their governance – the only country in the world to do so. Continue reading
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