WELCOME to Connected Rights, your clause in the contract of digital rights news and analysis. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to a friend or get them to sign up. I'm David Meyer, aka @superglaze on Twitter and @davidmeyerwrites on Facebook. Don't forget to check out the Connected Rights website and download a copy of my book, Control Shift: How Technology Affects You and Your Rights. Tatawaw! THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT … Continue reading Russia keeps finding new ways to kill online freedom
How to fix the Copyright Directive lobbying disaster
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your hair of the dog of digital rights news and analysis. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to a friend or get them to sign up. I'm David Meyer, aka @superglaze on Twitter and @davidmeyerwrites on Facebook. Don't forget to check out the Connected Rights website and download a copy of my book, Control Shift: How Technology Affects You and … Continue reading How to fix the Copyright Directive lobbying disaster
On copyright, some media turkeys are lobbying for Christmas
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your rustling in the leaves of digital rights news and analysis. LEADING EUROPEAN JOURNALISTS ARE TRYING TO LOBBY for the introduction of ancillary copyright across the EU, in the form of Article 11 of the new Copyright Directive. Google and Facebook are apparently "fleecing…the media of their rightful revenue". Look, this is … Continue reading On copyright, some media turkeys are lobbying for Christmas
Are online platforms tools or privatised law enforcement?
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your jewel in the cuckoo's nest of digital rights news and analysis. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IS PREPARING TO ABANDON the whole self-regulatory thing around takedowns of terrorist content. Per security commissioner Julian King, there hasn't been "enough progress" from the platforms, and "we cannot afford to relax or become complacent in the … Continue reading Are online platforms tools or privatised law enforcement?
Google, China and InfoWars: Online censorship hits the headlines
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your hadron in the collider of digital rights news and analysis. GOOGLE PULLED OUT OF CHINA EIGHT YEARS AGO over the country's censorship requirements and state-sponsored hacking. But now, according to multiple reports, the company is planning a return, with censor-friendly search and news aggregation apps being developed under a project codenamed … Continue reading Google, China and InfoWars: Online censorship hits the headlines
“Democracy needs resistance” – the ePrivacy reform is in trouble
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your ham in the slow cooker of digital rights news and analysis. A NEW EU LAW COVERING THE PRIVACY OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS appears to have stalled in the legislative process. The Council of the EU, currently led by the Austrians under a rotating presidency, is supposed to figure out a common position … Continue reading “Democracy needs resistance” – the ePrivacy reform is in trouble
Even Big Tech is worried about facial recognition
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your slice in the toaster of digital rights news and analysis. MICROSOFT HAS DONE SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL FOR a big tech firm. It has warned that a recent, popular technological development – facial recognition – is dangerous and needs regulating. In a blog post, Microsoft legal chief Brad Smith said facial recognition "can … Continue reading Even Big Tech is worried about facial recognition
Google and Facebook’s home state is the new privacy battleground
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your tip of the iceberg of digital rights news and analysis. CALIFORNIA HAS PASSED A LAW THAT CAN be best described as "GDPR-lite" – like the EU law, AB 375 forces companies to say what data they hold, why they hold it and where it goes, lets consumers object to their data … Continue reading Google and Facebook’s home state is the new privacy battleground
Avoiding and enforcing the GDPR
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your slap in the face of digital rights news and analysis. LAST YEAR I WROTE ABOUT HOW many of Europe's data protection authorities are too underfunded to properly enforce the General Data Protection Regulation. With just a few weeks to go now, that's still the case. Reuters surveyed 24 DPAs and found … Continue reading Avoiding and enforcing the GDPR
Let’s talk about encryption. Again.
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your fire in the hold of digital rights news and analysis. RUSSIA IS PROVIDING A HORRIFYING/HILARIOUS CASE STUDY into the effects of trying to censor a popular service that doesn't want to be censored. After a court ordered the blocking of encrypted messaging app Telegram (for not being willing/able to share encryption … Continue reading Let’s talk about encryption. Again.