CyberLaw Blog

Archive for October 19th, 2008

: “Protecting human rights on the Internet

Council of Europe launches guidelines in cooperation with online games and Internet service providers

(03/10/08) The Council of Europe today launched, in close cooperation with European online game designers and publishers and with Internet service providers, two sets of guidelines which aim to encourage respect and promote privacy, security and freedom of expression when, for example, accessing the Internet, using e-mail, participating in chats or blogs, or playing Internet games.

See guidelines for:
- online games providers [pdf, 1542KB]
- Internet service providers [pdf, 1599KB]“

(Via .)

VSocial networking sites told to warn users of weak privacy controls: “(AFP)
Social networking websites were urged to warn users about the low level of protection given to their profiles at a Council of Europe-organised conference on the issue. The European Union Data Protection Authority (Cnil) said websites like Facebook should inform users that their profiles currently receive only ‘weak’ protection. It added that website users, especially minors, should be told about the risks they face by going online and given clear instructions on how to change their data protection settings. The request came at the end of a two-day conference in the French city of Strasbourg during which 70 countries also stressed the need for a universal standard on privacy and personal data protection.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

ISPs pressed to become child porn cops

New law, new monitoring technology raise concerns about privacy

By Bill Dedman and Bob Sullivan, Oct. 16, 2008

New technologies and changes in U.S. law are adding to pressures to turn Internet service providers into cops examining all Internet traffic for child pornography.

One new tool, being marketed in the U.S. by an Australian company, offers to check every file passing through an Internet provider’s network — every image, every movie, every document attached to an e-mail or found in a Web search — to see if it matches a list of illegal images.

The company caught the attention of New York’s attorney general, who has been pressing Internet companies to block child porn. He forwarded the proposal to one of those companies, AOL, for discussion by an industry task force that is looking for ways to fight child porn. A copy of the company’s proposal was also obtained by msnbc.com.

Internet phone calls are crippling fight against terrorism – Times Online: “From The Times, October 16, 2008

Sean O’Neill and Richard Ford

The huge growth in internet telephone traffic is jeopardising the capability of police to investigate almost every type of crime, senior sources have told The Times.

As more and more phone calls are routed over the web – using software such as Skype – police are losing the ability to track who has called whom, from where and for how long.

The key difficulty facing police is that, unlike mobile phone companies, which retain call data for billing purposes, internet call companies have no reason to keep the material.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, outlined plans yesterday for a huge expansion of the Government’s capability to access data held by internet services, including social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo, and gaming networks. “

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Government faces fight from within for spy database – Times Online: “From The Sunday Times, October 19, 2008

A Home Office revolt is stalling a plan to store our e-mails and calls but a more sinister one may take its place

David Leppard

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, faces a revolt from her senior officials over plans to build a central database holding information on every telephone call, e-mail and internet visit made in the UK.

A ‘significant body of Home Office officials dealing with serious and organised crime’ are privately lobbying against the plans, a leaked memo has revealed.

They believe the proposals are ‘impractical, disproportionate, politically unattractive and possibly unlawful from a human rights perspective’, the memo says.

Their stance puts them at loggerheads with the spy-masters at GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham, who have been driving through the plans. “

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Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones – Times Online: “From The Sunday Times, October 19, 2008

David Leppard

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say.

The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones. They can be purchased with cash by customers who do not wish to give their names, addresses or credit card details.
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