Online bookies must keep punters' cash in separate account
Licensing conditions proposed by the Gambling Commission may not adequately protect customers against the risk of losing their money or credits if gambling operators become insolvent, an expert has warned.
The Commission is consulting on draft plans that, if introduced, would oblige remote gambling licensees, except ancillary …
WAIT! Don't you dare send that ad-spaff email without 'specific' consent
Organisations need to obtain "extremely clear and specific" consent from individuals in order to conduct direct marketing to them via email or through any other form of electronic marketing message, according to new guidelines.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that rules set out in the UK's Privacy and Electronic …
New EU rules: Telco only SOMETIMES has to tell you it spaffed your data
New rules setting out the circumstances in which telecoms companies need to report personal data breaches, as well as the kind of information they need to share in those reports, have come into force.
The EU's Regulation on the notification of personal data breaches (7-page/756KB PDF) applies to all providers of publicly …
HMRC nabs 5 after £500k 'cyber attack' on tax systems
Computer systems operated by the UK's tax authority have been subjected to a cyber attack in an attempted tax scam, it has said.
HMRC said that it suspects five men it arrested of using "illegally obtained personal data from third parties" to set up fake tax self-assessment accounts online in a bid to "steal large sums of false …
Finance watchdog: Big fingers + tiny mobe screen + banking = doesn't end well
Companies providing mobile banking services must consider how to overcome limitations in mobile device screen sizes in order to help consumers avoid making erroneous payments, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said.
In an interim report (12-page/724KB PDF) it published as part of its ongoing review into mobile banking, …
Quarter of a million quid fine for data-wipe gaffe? ICO told: Nae, laddie
The UK's data protection watchdog was not justified in serving a monetary penalty on a Scottish council over an allegedly flawed outsourcing arrangement it had with a data disposal contractor, an Information Rights Tribunal has ruled.
Scottish Borders Council was issued with a £250,000 fine by the Information Commissioner's …
Brazilians tear strip off NSA in wake of Snowden, mull anti-US-spook law
Businesses selling online to Brazil-based consumers could be forced to store any personal data they collect about those individuals on local servers under proposed new laws under consideration in the country.
According to an automated translation of a report by the Reuters news agency, the federal government in Brazil has …
Most UK privacy cock-ups are 'careless' spaffing of personal data - watchdog
Most of the data breach incidents analysed by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in a three-month period earlier this year concerned errors in the way personal information was disclosed, the watchdog has said.
The ICO said that it had looked at 335 data breach incidents between 1 April and 30 June 2013 and found that in …
The man from Del Monte, he says... NO! .delmonte gTLD bid crushed, juiced
A trade mark owner has won the right to stop its mark being adopted as a new generic top-level domain (gTLD) by a rival company.
Del Monte International (DMI) of Monaco had applied to register '.delmonte' as a new gTLD under an expanded system of domains being set up by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers …
2 in 5 top Brit biz bosses expect IT dept to drive 'technical innovation'
China and the US are investing more in technology in a bid to drive innovation than the UK, more than half of respondents to a new survey have said.
According to management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company Accenture which conducted the poll - and published the results this week - 56 per cent of business …
Top Brit biz giants love to outsource IT so much, they're gonna do it more
Most UK businesses involved in outsourcing IT are planning to either increase or maintain the current levels to which they outsource, according to a new survey.
A survey of more than 230 of highest spending UK businesses on IT by Whitelane Research revealed that more than a third of those businesses are planning to increase the …
Gov: Smart TV bods must protect users from smut-riddled badness
Labelling within electronic programme guides on connected TVs could help viewers to distinguish between regulated and unregulated content, the Government has said in setting out a new communications strategy.
The government has called on industry (52-page/472KB PDF) to develop tools that enable the distinction to be made between …
Crumbs, we're going to lose that public sector bid - Jeeves, send for the lawyers
The number of complaints raised by businesses over the awarding of public sector contracts has more than doubled over the last year, according to new figures.
According to data released by the Cabinet Office following a freedom of information request by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, business complaints about …
Congrats architects, PR bods, toolmakers - you're the new digital tycoons!
There are at least 40 per cent more companies that make up the UK's "digital economy" than any Government estimates, and those companies tend to be considerably more successful than non-digital companies, researchers have found.
The study [43-page, 6.2MB PDF], commissioned by Google and produced by the National Institute for …
You still reading us? Not for long! Summer is THE IT meltdown hot spot
Most IT outages in 2012 occurred during the months of June and July, a technology provider has said.
John Gentry, vice president of marketing at Virtual Instruments, said 60 per cent of IT outages for the year occurred during the two summer months.
Gentry said factors such as IT experts taking holidays, the stress on mobile and …
Kick the tyres on UK's swap-shop for cat pics and other copyright stuff
A new online platform to help facilitate the licensing of copyrighted works in the UK is now being piloted.
The Copyright Hub centralises information on who individuals and businesses need to contact and gain permission from to "copy, adapt, share or distribute" music, text, images, video or other multimedia that is protected by …
Hack biz rivals or hire cyber-warriors and we'll shut you down, warns EU
Businesses could be wound up if they engage in cyber attacks or fail to prevent staff from engaging in computer hacking or other cyber crimes under new draft laws backed by the European Parliament.
MEPs last week voted to support a new EU Directive on attacks against information systems. The new framework would require member …
Europe: OK, we'll 'backload' carbon emissions - but we'd better not lose big biz
The European Parliament has voted through proposed temporary reforms to the EU's emissions trading system (EU ETS), after the Parliament's Environment Committee set stricter conditions for the proposed "backloading" of allowances.
The latest proposed reforms will prevent the European Commission from backloading more than the 900 …
Hey mobile firms: About that Android thing... Did Google add a lockout clause?
The European Commission has asked mobile telecoms firms and manufacturers of devices to provide details of any agreements they have with Google regarding the use of the technology giant's Android operating system.
A number of Google's rivals have recently complained about agreements between Google and mobile device manufacturers …
When UK.gov asks 'Who's your daddy', companies HAD BETTER reply
Tax authorities and law enforcement agencies are to be able to access information about the owners of UK-registered companies under new rules proposed by the government.
The new rules, announced ahead of this week's G8 summit in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, will see companies required to supply information on their 'beneficial …
Ad-slingers! Punting peeps' pics into promos? You must read THIS
Advertisers are responsible for any material they hoover up from social networks to use in their promotions - and that user-submitted content must comply with UK advertising rules.
That's according to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which together with the Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), is …
Fancy some mobile filth? New logo tells you when not to bother
Providers of public Wi-Fi services could soon display a form of trust mark to indicate their networks prevent access to pornographic content, the UK government has said.
The government said that some major Wi-Fi providers were looking into the possibility of establishing such a trust mark scheme in collaboration with the UK …
Huge erections - or lots of small ones. Checkmate, mast NIMBYs
Easing restrictions on the maximum height that existing telecoms masts can be increased to will lead to a reduction in the number of masts needed for supporting mobile broadband services, an expert has said.
The Government is consulting on proposals to improve mobile connectivity in England [44-page 306KB PDF]. The plans include …
'Inconsistent' watchdogs throw cloud biz barons into a tizzy
A lack of consistency over the way Asian regulators approach data privacy issues has led to a slow take-up of cloud services by businesses in the region, an expert has said.
Hong Kong-based outsourcing contracts expert Peter Bullock of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that cloud providers are not offering …
Retailers: You could get the chance to TEAR UP Penguin ebook contracts
Retailers could be offered the chance to terminate some agreements formed with Penguin over the sale of electronic books as part of the UK publishing company's bid to resolve European Commission concerns about the nature of those agreements.
Penguin has formed an informal agreement with the Commission over its practices in …
Now draft biz guillotine law triggers info privacy watchdog
There are insufficient data protection safeguards built in to proposed reforms to the EU's insolvency law framework, a privacy watchdog has said.
In a recently issued opinion into the European Commission's draft Insolvency Regulation, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) raised concerns about the mandatory publication …
Your consent 'almost always' needed when firms use your data to profile you
Organisations "almost always" require individuals' "free, specific, informed and unambiguous 'opt-in' consent" in order to make use of personal data they have previously collected in Big Data projects that involve analysing or predicting the "personal preferences, behaviour and attitudes of individual customers", an EU privacy …
New rules to end cries of 'WTF... a £10 online booking fee?'
The government has issued guidance that sets out the kind of costs businesses incur that they are legitimately able to claim back through payment surcharging.
Under the Consumer Protection (Payment Surcharges) Regulations, which took effect on 6 April, businesses are prohibited from charging consumers excessive fees for using a …
GPs blow whistle to watchdog on patient record privacy threat
The UK's data protection watchdog has highlighted concerns it has with a new information-sharing initiative that has begun operating in the health sector in England.
Earlier this week a new Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) was established with the power to require health bodies to hand over "any information" …
EU red-tape slash shock: New tool defuses web shop argy-bargies
Online traders will be able to resolve contractual disputes with consumers based in other EU countries through a new online dispute resolution (ODR) framework after MEPs voted to back the new regime earlier this week.
The European Parliament approved a new ODR Regulation and a new Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive …
$1.5k per complaint. Up to 1,900 gTLDs. Brand owners, prepare to PAY
Brand owners may face a costly battle to fight 'typosquatters' under a new top-level domain regime, an expert has warned.
In 2011 the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that oversees the identification of websites, voted to expand the number of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that are in use …
EU mulls almost-anonymisation of folks' data to cut biz some slack
Officials from justice departments across the EU have been asked to explore to what extent the pseudonymisation of personal data can be used to "calibrate" businesses' obligations to data protection.
Pseudonymisation (such as assigning fake names to people), as opposed to anonymisation (complete stripping of identity), allows …
Tech titans: Give it a rest with the SEP injunctions, wouldja? - economists
Standard-essential patent owners should be required to try to settle licensing disputes out of court in a bid to restrict the affects of litigation on market innovation, three prominent economists have said.
In a paper for the Competition Policy International (CPI) think tank, Kai-Uwe Kühn, Howard Shelanski and Fiona Scott …
New UK.gov cyber-security standard puts MANAGERS in firing line
The UK government is seeking to hear from businesses that would be interested in submitting evidence to help form a new "organisational standard" for cyber security.
The Cyber Security and Resilience Team within the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) has asked businesses to detail initial interest in …
World spent $3.6 trillion on ICT in 2012 - analyst
International Data Corporation (IDC) said that the figure included what businesses had spent on telecoms services and that total expenditure on hardware, software and IT services alone had topped $2 trillion on its own. The latter figure represented a 5.9 per cent increase from the total IT expenditure in 2011 and was recorded …
Google: Our 'freedom of expression' should trump punters' privacy
Google has called on the EU's highest court to uphold its right to display links to published "valid legal material" in the face of calls from Spain's data protection authority to remove links on the grounds of privacy.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is due today to stage a hearing on a case in which it has …
Bundestag holds 'unusual' hearing on German Copyright Act
A "highly unusual" additional parliamentary hearing on proposed changes to German copyright law is a sign that there is increasing opposition to the publisher-driven plans, an expert has said.
A cross-party sub committee on new media is scheduled to stage a hearing of stakeholders' views on the proposed amendments to the German …
How private biz can link YOU to 'anonymised' medical data
Private sector businesses could obtain "identifiable" information about patients without their consent under a new scheme that will see medical data made commercially accessible, according to information disclosed by the government.
Under plans previously unveiled by the government, a new research body, the Clinical Practice …
Nursing watchdog fined £150k for confidential unencrypted DVD loss
The UK's data protection watchdog has fined the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) £150,000 after it deemed its failure to encrypt sensitive personal data stored on DVDs that were lost to be a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.
The nursing and midwifery regulator had arranged for the DVDs, which contained confidential …
ICO: How 'sensitive' is personal data? Depends what it's used for...
The sensitivity of personal information should be determined by the reasons behind why the information is to be processed, the UK's data protection watchdog has said.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) outlined its view in a new paper in which it analysed the European Commission's proposed new EU Data Protection …
US diplomat: If EU allows 'right to be forgotten' ... it might spark TRADE WAR
US diplomat warns of "trade war" if "right to be forgotten" proposals in Europe are followed through.
The introduction of planned changes to EU data protection laws could herald a trans-Atlantic "trade war", a US diplomat has warned.
John Rodgers, economic Officer in the US Foreign Service, said that "things could really …
'Most US banks' were DDoSed last year - survey
Nearly two-thirds of retail banks experienced at least one distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in the past year, according to a new survey.
In a new report, (12-page/941KB PDF) commissioned by Corero Network Security, 64 per cent of 650 IT and IT security experts from 351 banks said a DDoS attack had been carried out on …
Cautious Brits less likely than US firms to puff on clouds - survey
A "fragmented" legal framework, the "attitude" of regulators and a naturally cautious approach to security issues are among the reasons why UK businesses have made less use of cloud computing than US counterparts, according to experts.
IT law and cloud computing specialists Charles Park and Christopher Mann of Pinsent Masons …
UK taxmen turn heat on tax-swerving big biz, hope to smoke out £1bn
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has increased its focus on international businesses it suspects of using profit shifting techniques to avoid taxes in the UK, according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.
A freedom of information (FOI) request made by the firm showed that the department's large …
Hooking offshore wind farms into UK grid will HIKE bills, MPs warn
It is "unlikely" that a new licensing system intended to connect offshore wind farms to the national grid will save consumers money, an influential committee of MPs has warned.
In a report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that the offshore transmission operator (OFTO) licensing regime could instead "lead to higher …
Biz barons jumpy over EU draft data protection reforms
An MEP's suggested reforms to EU data protection laws, which are to be put to a vote before the European Parliament, would damage the interests of businesses, an alliance of business groups has said.
In a statement, the Industry Coalition for Data Protection (ICDP) criticised the draft report that Jan-Phillip Albrecht published …
Happy now? Mobiles, cloud, big data now 'a growing security risk'
Innovations in mobile and cloud computing, social technology and the use of "big data" present an emerging risk to organisations' IT security, experts have warned.
The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), which is an EU advisory body, said that those technologies would increasingly provide the platform for " …
A pre-ticked box in web forms should NOT mean consent - EU report
Businesses will not be able to use pre-ticked boxes to gain user consent for the processing of their data under changes proposed by the European Parliament to new EU data protection laws.
In a new report, Jan-Philipp Albrecht, a rapporteur for the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee on the …
New gov rules stick pin into bloated ICT frameworks
Following an internal review of government IT procurement, the Cabinet Office has announced that it has scrapped plans to use some existing ICT frameworks.
It has said that government departments will only be able to establish framework agreements in future if they can show it will "explicitly deliver against key strategic needs …
Chill out, biz barons... your new IT system might not look like the old one
Organisations that wish to update their IT systems and transform their business need to be careful not to be overly prescriptive with suppliers and overlook other important considerations, an expert in resolving IT disputes has said.
Ian Birdsey of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that organisations often " …
