Monthly Archives: December 2012

2012 in review… WordPress.com automatic summary…

Posted on December 31, 2012 by

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2012. If it were … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

10 reasons to leave Facebook…

Posted on December 27, 2012 by

If you’re looking for a New Year’s Resolution – have you considered leaving Facebook? There are many reasons to do so, and getting more compelling all the time – all it takes is a little resolution. 1) Privacy Everyone should … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Nymwars, Privacy, Profiling | 59 Comments

12 days…. of privacy?

Posted on December 20, 2012 by

NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ON VIDEO (if you want proof that I can’t sing): here Privacy is the gift that keeps on giving…. and for privacy advocates and lawyers, this year particularly! To keep festive, here’s a little song for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Privacy, Snoopers charter, Twitter, Wikileaks | Leave a comment

Tiny steps… almost real….

Posted on December 19, 2012 by

The Director of Public Prosecutions issued ‘Interim guidelines on prosecuting cases involving communications sent via social media’ today – in response to the plethora of cases that have been gathering attention over the last few years. There have been many: … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of expression | 1 Comment

A thousand words?

Posted on December 19, 2012 by

One of the big stories on the net over the last couple of days has surrounded Instagram, the photo-sharing site acquired by Facebook for around $1 billion earlier in 2012. Instagram, it appeared, was going to change its terms and … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Privacy | 7 Comments

The proof of the pudding…

Posted on December 13, 2012 by

The news that Lord McAlpine has started legal proceedings against Sally Bercow for libel over her tweets has been greeted in some quarters by dismay. I don’t see it that way: from an academic perspective, and potentially for future tweeters … Continue reading →

Posted in Defamation, Twitter | 40 Comments

Fanciful and misleading…

Posted on December 11, 2012 by

The Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill produced its report today – (available here) and it’s a devastating piece of work, ripping the bill, and process through which it was drafted, to shreds. As tweeter @EinsteinsAttic put it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Privacy, Snoopers charter, surveillance | 4 Comments

They’re taking over the internet!

Posted on December 6, 2012 by

There’s a big story going around at the moment: the UN’s trying to take over the internet, or some variant of that. It’s all based on the current ITU proposals at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) currently taking place … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Freedom of expression, google, government, Internet, Piracy, Privacy, Snoopers charter | 10 Comments

Turning the tables…

Posted on December 5, 2012 by

————————————————————————– Imagine you’ve just been appointed the head of the online secret police for an oppressive dictatorship. Your leader comes to you with a worried expression. The internet bothers him, he tells you. People get to say whatever they want, … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of expression, Privacy International, Snoopers charter, surveillance | Leave a comment

My snoopers’ charter posts…

Posted on December 3, 2012 by

With Theresa May now trying to scare us into accepting the snoopers charter, I realised quite how much I’ve written about the subject since it raised its ugly head earlier this year. Here are links to some of my main … Continue reading →

Posted in Privacy, Snoopers charter, surveillance | 2 Comments