ORG policy update/2018-w19

This is ORG's Policy Update for the week beginning 07/05/2018.

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ORG’s work

  • A huge thank you to everyone who helped out by donating to our CrowdJustice fundraiser for legal fees to fight the Immigration Exemption in the Data Protection Bill. We hit our initial target of £10,000 in just over 24 hours, and are well on our way to hitting our stretch goal of £30,000!
  • This week ORG welcomes Arjun Datta Majumdar as a volunteer! Arjun will be with us until the beginning of July, and will be looking into the regulation of the use of biometrics across Scotland, and specifically questioning the effect of the absence of an independent commissioner in the area.
  • ORG are participating in City University's summer placement scheme, and are taking on two full-time students from June 1.

Official meetings

  • Ed Johnson-Williams and Javier Ruiz attended two days of research workshops run with Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. The workshops explored how developers working for Internet of Things startups understand the ethical considerations that go into making their products. This is part of the VIRT-EU project, where ORG is a partner.
  • Matthew Rice met with Disability Equality Scotland to discuss electronic voting and accessibility needs for disabled people living in Scotland.

UK Parliament

Data Protection Bill

The Data Protection Bill was passed through the remaining stages in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening. The House of Lords will next consider amendments made to the Bill on Monday 14 May.

Transcripts of the Report stage and the Third Reading.

During the Report stage, MPs discussed the fate of the Immigration Exemption (Schedule 2 Paragraph 4). Labour, Lib Dems, SNP and Green Party all supported an amendment which would remove the exemption from the Bill. The Government tabled their own amendment which would alter the exemption but cause no practical change to how broad the application of the exemption would be.

When pressed to a vote, the opposition amendment was voted down and the Government amendment was voted in. Following this development, Open Rights Group and the3million decided to go ahead with a legal challenge to remove the exemption from the Bill once it becomes law. In order to do this, we launched a crowd funding campaign.

You can read a piece from Jim Killock on why we this it is necessary to challenge the exemption in courts.

ORG media coverage

See ORG Press Coverage for full details.

2018-05-10-New Statesman-Jim Killock: why we’re taking the government to court over the Data Protection Bill
Author: Jim Killock
Summary: Op-ed by Jim Killock about ORG's CrowdJustice fundraising campaign to challenge the Immigration Exemption in the Data Protection Bill.
Topics: Data Protection
2018-05-09-Gizmodo UK-Open Rights Group is Taking the Government to Court Over Immigrant Data Access Exemptions
Author: Tom Pritchard
Summary: Jim quoted in an article about ORG's CrowdJustice fundraising campaign to challenge the Immigration Exemption in the Data Protection Bill.
Topics: Data Protection
2018-05-09-The Guardian-Ministers risk judicial review of plan to deny immigrants data access
Author: Lisa O'Carroll
Summary: Article about ORG's CrowdJustice fundraising campaign to challenge the Immigration Exemption in the Data Protection Bill.
Topics: Data Protection
2018-05-09-The Guardian-Data rules threaten 'last avenue' used in thousands of immigration cases
Author: Owen Bowcott
Summary: Article about the Immigration Exemption in the Data Protection Bill. Mentions ORG and our CrowdJustice campaign.
Topics: Data Protection
2018-05-08-The Register-UK age-checking smut overlord won't be able to handle the pressure – critics
Author: Rebecca Hill
Summary: ORG quoted in an article about age verification, questioning whether the BBFC have the capacity to deal with the role they have been assigned.
Topics: Online age verification
2018-05-08-Gizmodo UK-ISP Internet Filters Cock Up Again, Block Disney Sites, Internet Safety Tips, and More
Author: Tom Pritchard
Summary: ORG and Blocked! mentioned in an article about the failings of adult content filters. Mostly based on original TorrentFreak article.
Topics: Internet censorship
2018-05-05-BoingBoing-Britain's Great Firewall blocks access to official Disney sites, internet safety guides, VPNs, and coding sites for kids
Author: Cory Doctorow
Summary: ORG and Blocked! mentioned in an article about the failings of adult content filters. Mostly based on original TorrentFreak article.
Topics: Internet censorship
2018-05-05-TorrentFreak-UK Internet Filters Block Disney Sites, Internet Safety Tips, and More
Author: Ernesto
Summary: ORG and Blocked! mentioned in an article about the failings of adult content filters.
Topics: Internet censorship

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