Jane Fae

An initiative to combat child abuse images by the Irish Police has fallen foul of the Data Protection Commissioner. The plan by An Garda Siochana was intended to reduce the availability of child abuse material online, but has been referred to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner on the grounds that it raises significant …

MPs appeared last week to have overtaken the somewhat more cautious House of Lords, with the publication of new guidelines allowing MPs to tweet – and surf – during debates in the Commons, so long as they do it tastefully, and don't take up too much room. This was the conclusion of the Third Report of the Procedure Committee, …

Attempts by officials at the 2011 census to increase participation by the young male population in this weekend's UK headcount exercise – aka the Census – appear to have reached desperation point over the last couple of weeks, with the launch of Census-Man, the online game. Those wishing to experience the census gaming …

Apple appears to have bowed to pressure from gay rights groups, and withdrawn a controversial "gay cure" app sponsored by Exodus International, an evangelical Christian group claiming to be "the world’s largest ministry to individuals and families impacted by homosexuality". This followed a battle between competing petitions, …

Apple is today accused of anti-gay discrimination, following the release of an iPhone app that aims to help people find “freedom from homosexuality”. A petition has been launched by Truth Wins Out, which describes itself as a non-profit organisation that fights anti-gay religious extremism on the change.org website, asking …

A row is brewing today between government and ISPs following suggestions that greater informal policing of internet content might be needed, along with a new self-regulatory body to carry out the task. The proposal arose as Culture Minister Ed Vaizey spoke at the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) 2010 Annual Report launch …

The number of URLs hosting child abuse content has risen significantly over the last year – but the scale of the problem has not changed, and take-down time has improved dramatically. Those were the highlights of yesterday's Internet Watch Foundation 2010 Annual Report (PDF/3.9MB) presented to an assembly of the great and the …

The Upper House yesterday took its first trembling steps into the 21st century, by agreeing to allow the use of electronic devices in the Lords – but only so long as they are hand-held and don’t make nasty clicking noises! Lord Brabazon of Tara kicked off debate by introducing a paper from the Administration and Works …

First signs that the purity of census results may be swayed by internet campaigning emerged this week, as the Twittersphere declared itself opposed to Jediism. Elsewhere, Jewish organisations were urging people to put themselves down as Jewish, in order to increase pressure for more Jewish faith schools. Earlier this week, as …

A Belgian man who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children while on a visit to Manchester in January was last week sentenced to four months in prison. According to a spokeswoman for Manchester Crown Court, where the miscreant appeared for sentencing on 3 March, Tim Verrydt, 23, of Kappellestraat, Mol, Belgium, …

Police in Reading are today encouraging residents to join the Big Society and zap speeding neighbours with personal issue speed detection kit. The speedster who falls afoul of the personal speedguns gets two written warnings from neighbourhood police. Police may then take action on the third infraction. Be good or we'll zap …

UpdatedThe BBC was today accused of ignoring its own charter requirement to offer balance by coming down firmly on the side of opt-in in respect of internet porn regulation. An "alliance of the concerned" drawn from academics and individuals representing the adult film industry added their voices to a chorus of dissent, claiming that …

The UK needs a single privacy commissioner, and not the tangle of officials it is creating to police the area, an alliance of pressure groups claimed yesterday. Terri Dowty, Director of Action on Rights for Children (ARCH), warned of the uncoordinated and ineffective proliferation of commissioners now operating in this area. …

CommentYesterday’s ruling by the European Courts may have stirred the general public to a wide-ranging and not altogether informed debate on the issues of gender discrimination. Less obvious, but in the long run more serious, is the fundamental challenge it poses to the way in which two pillars of the establishment – the financial …

As debate on the future of the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) gets under way, the NSPCC is demanding the right for authorities to carry on hiring and firing on the basis of uncorroborated "soft information" about employees. In a statement issued today, the charity further muddies the water by blurring the distinction between …

The Norwegian government this week indicated it is considering blocking the ISP addresses of companies that offer gambling online. This follows a survey, attributed to the Norsk Tipping state gambling monopoly, suggesting that tough measures to curb online gambling already taken by the Norwegian government had failed: far from …

A ground-breaking and timely survey of how individuals use porn was launched yesterday. The aim of this survey, available online at pornresearch.org, is to collect evidence around the everyday uses of pornography and find out how the people who use it feel it fits into their lives. Ultimately, the data may be used to challenge …

Facebook is in the doghouse again – and this time it is none other than the New York Academy of Art taking them to task for their online censoriousness. The dispute has rumbled onward in the Academy's official blog since the end of January, when Facebook notified the administrator of the Academy's official Facebook page that …

Facebook has announced it is actively reviewing its policy of a total ban on all content relating to sexual activities. The review follows the deletion on 4 February of Collared Events page following a complaint from a site user. This deletion angered and mystified many members and supporters of Collared, which operates Slaves …

Government ministers are bracing themselves for a storm of protest today, as the Home Secretary announced plans in the Commons to grant sex Offenders the right to appeal against a continued obligation to notify the authorities of their whereabouts. This follows a case in the UK Supreme Court last year in which two convicted …

The first casualty of next month’s 2011 census could be the secret identities of Britain’s top spies – not to mention the location of senior police officers, judges and intelligence eavesdroppers as well. This follows a release from the Official of National Statistics (ONS) last week, reminding all UK employees that they will …

AnalysisToday’s Repeal Bill is likely to receive an enthusiastic welcome from Big Brother Watch and a lukewarm endorsement from the Lib Dems. But as the proposal is more closely analysed, a fair few of those cheering now may soon be a good deal more gloomy; in respect of what has been left out and the fine detail of how freedoms are to …

The long-awaited Protection of Freedoms Bill – aka "the great Repeal Bill" – has been published, to much trumpeting of liberties restored by the Coalition, and a sharp intake of breath from everyone else, who is rapidly reading the small print. Top of the list of freedoms restored is the right to volunteer without being …

The call is going out in Russia for a new volunteer army to combat the menace of "negative" content on the internet. First in its sights is the usual enemy of all right-thinking people - child abuse material - but critics fear that once up and running the newly launched League of Internet Safety will cast its net much more …

An obsession with child protection in the UK and throughout the EU is encouraging a cavalier approach to law-making, which less democratic regimes are using to justify much broader repression on any speech seen as extreme or dangerous. That was the accusation made by academic and online legal expert, Dr Yaman Akdeniz, at last …