Digital Privacy
19 Jul 2013 Jim Killock censorship
ORG asks court for web blocking documents
A few weeks ago, ORG published the website 451unavailable.org to compile and analyse website blocking orders in the UK.
Our aim is to create transparency over what methods of blocking are being authorised, what blocking is being done and by whom.
Once a judge has decided that a website deserves to be blocked under Section 97A of the Copyright Act, each ISP is sent a court order describing the actions they must take to block the website. It specifies the kind of blocking to be undertaken. The court order contains other important information, including the name of the organisation responsible for mistakes and changes to the lists of clone sites to be blocked.
Publication of the orders should benefit everyone. Courts, ISPs and copyright holders stand to benefit by having this knowledge made public. Accountability, fewer errors and less confusion about what is happening should be the result.
However, ISPs are often reluctant to share the orders with us, despite the fact they are ‘public documents’. Possibly they feel that copyright owners asking for the orders may find publication by an ISP provocative. This means we are obliged to ask the courts for the documents, in order that we can publish and analyse their contents.
Unfortunately, court officials so far have turned down ORG’s requests for copies of the blocking orders. They have done this because, they say, ‘judgment has not been entered’ or ‘service has not been acknowledged’.
We think court orders ought normally to be easily accessible to the public at all stages of litigation. At present the rules governing access to court documents only permit access to these orders as of right once the litigation has finished. The courts seem to be treating blocking injunctions as if they were like temporary injunctions made while proceedings are still going on. In fact the injunctions are the end of the section 97A process. Nothing more is intended to happen.
This week we therefore applied to have a procedural judge (a ‘Master’) in the High Court to look at our requests to gain access to the documents relating to the blocks of Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents.
We hope to persuade the Master that a section 97A blocking injunction should be treated like any final judgment in court and be available to the public as of right. If we cannot do that, we will ask the Master’s permission to have access to the orders.
As the orders proliferate, it is important that 451unavailable.org keeps a record of what is happening. In due course, we hope that ISPs will also link to these documents in their blocking notices, to make it clear what the legal authority for the block is.
Related Blogs
Digital Privacy
08 Oct 2024 By Mariano delli Santi
The ICO is leaving an AI enforcement gap in the UK
In response to our formal complaint to the ICO against Meta’s use of personal data to train Artificial Intelligence models without consent, the ICO has invited Open Rights Group (ORG) to a meeting to discuss our concerns.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
18 Sep 2024 By Jim Killock
e-Visas: The Next Digital Windrush Scandal
Our report, “Hostile and Broken” released today, explains why e-Visas risk creating tens or hundreds of thousands of errors, with people potentially turned down for jobs, or unable to enter the country, as the result of electronic failures of the new online, real time re-checking inherent in the UK e-Visa scheme.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
01 Aug 2024 By Mariano delli Santi
Light and Shadow of the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill
In what could be a new, welcomed development, Labour appear to have decided to narrow the scope of the data protection reform by … taking away the data protection parts.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
26 Jul 2024 By Mariano delli Santi
AI Regulation: Will Labour Promote Growth and Protect Rights?
In the King’s Speech, Labour committed to binding regulation on “the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models” to ensure the safe developments of these technologies.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
16 Jul 2024 By Mariano delli Santi
Meta Wants to Make Us its AI Guinea Pigs
Meta, the company that runs Facebook and Instagram, has announced plans to repurpose most of the personal data that they ever collected about you, to train their “artificial intelligence (AI) technologies” — without, of course, asking your permission to do so.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
08 May 2024 By Mariano delli Santi
Smart meter data: the Government’s at it again
Back in October 2022, ORG exposed Government plans to snoop on UK residents’ smart meters and energy consumption data.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
23 Apr 2024 By Sara Alsherif
Why Migrants Need Digital Sanctuary
When individuals migrate, their data migrates with them.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
20 Mar 2024 By Mariano delli Santi
The ICO Must Toughen Up
As the House of Lords finally begins scrutiny of the UK data protection reform, Open Rights Group urges peers to support amendments that would strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the UK data protection authority, and bolster the public’s right of seeking a remedy against an infringement of their rights.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
19 Mar 2024 By Pam Cowburn
The Post Office Scandal and Data Protection
The Post Office scandal, which saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly convicted of fraud, is one of the UK’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
07 Mar 2024 By Sara Alsherif
Government does the bare minimum to update the Immigration Exemption
ORG and the3million took the Government to court several times before the Government accepted that the Immigration Exemption was unlawful.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
31 Jan 2024 By Jim Killock
Are British Data Rights falling behind our EU neighbours?
With the roll-out of iOS 17.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Dec 2023 By Alexander Dolphin
Government powers overdrawn
Whether you are a pensioner or a parent, unemployed or living with a disability, you may be one of the millions of people who receive benefits from the State.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
28 Jul 2023 By Mariano delli Santi
The CPTPP: trading away your privacy rights
The Government have recently announced the UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
14 Dec 2022 By Mariano delli Santi
Data Grab Bill from an EU perspective
A delegation from the European Parliament visited London and left with some rather scathing opinions about the UK data protection reform, but UK Ministers have been denying that there is any issue with their proposals.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
21 Jun 2017 By Jim Killock
Queen’s speech 2017 – threats to privacy and free speech
There are references to a review of Counter-terrorism and a Commision for Countering Extremism which will include Internet-related policies.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
04 Jun 2017 By Jim Killock
The London Attacks
It is disappointing that in the aftermath of this attack, the Government’s response appears to focus on the regulation of the Internet and encryption.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
01 May 2017 By Jim Killock
Automated censorship is not the answer to extremism
Today’s report by the Home Affairs Select Committee brands social media companies as behaving irresponsibly in failing to remove extremist material.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
08 Feb 2017 By Jim Killock
Just how much censorship will the DEBill lead to?
Officials wrote to the New Statesman yesterday to complain about Myles Jackman’s characterisation of the Digital Economy Bill as leading to an attempt to classify everything on the Internet.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
02 Nov 2016 By Jim Killock
Facebook is right to sink Admiral’s app
Late yesterday, on the eve before Admiral tried to launch Firstcarquote, their application’s permission to use Facebook data was revoked by the social media site.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
19 Oct 2016 By Jim Killock
Fig leafs for privacy in Age Verification
Yesterday we published a blog detailing the lack of privacy safeguards for Age Verification systems mandated in the Digital Economy Bill.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
18 Oct 2016 By Jim Killock
A database of the UK’s porn habits. What could possibly go wrong?
To this end the Digital Economy Bill creates a regulator that will seek to ensure that adult content websites will verify the age of users, or face monetary penalties, or in the case of overseas sites, ask payment providers such as VISA to refuse to process UK payments for non-compliant providers.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
28 Jan 2016 By Jason Kitcat
E-voting won’t solve the problem of voter apathy
As the old English proverb has it “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
19 Jan 2016 By Jim Killock
Does the government want to break encryption or not?
The government opens up by stating:
This Government recognises the importance of encryption, which helps keep people’s personal data and intellectual property safe from theft by cyber means.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
26 Feb 2015 By Jim Killock
GCHQ is damaging businesses and the digital economy – we need your help
But it is the Internet economy that is at risk, just as much as our civil liberties.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
20 Jan 2015 By Richard King
Default censorship is wrong and unfair to Sky’s customers
Sky Broadband have announced they will force web-filters on all customers, starting this week, unless the account-holder opts out.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Jan 2015 By Jim Killock
What does David Cameron want?
On Monday, David Cameron declared war on encryption as the latest knee-jerk reaction to the atrocities committed in Paris against Charlie Hebdo journalists.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
06 Jul 2014 By Jim Killock
What Google isn’t doing with requests for search redaction
A search for Stan o’Neal brings up Robert Peston’s article on the first page.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
02 Jul 2014 By Pam Cowburn
ORG’s Blocked project finds almost 1 in 5 sites are blocked by filters
Today, Open Rights Group relaunched www.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
14 Apr 2014 By Richard King
Making progress on monitoring censorship
Since the start of the year ORG’s community of technical volunteers have been turning blocked.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
07 Apr 2014 By Ruth Coustick-Deal
We’re making web censorship more transparent – thanks to you!
The generosity of our supporters raised more than £6500 to support our campaign to end the imposition of web censorship in the UK.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
10 Mar 2014 By Ruth Coustick-Deal
Support ORG’s Censorship Monitoring Project
ORG are building tools to monitor the effects of default filtering in the UK
Can you join us now to help keep this project going?
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
23 Jan 2014 By Peter Bradwell
What’s happening to your medical records and how you can opt out
Where your records will be stored, the people deciding who has access to them, the reasons people can access them – all of these things are affected by what’s happening.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
19 Dec 2013 By Peter Bradwell
Ten recommendations to ISPs for dealing with over-blocking
We started looking closely at internet filtering by mobile networks a couple of years ago.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Dec 2013 By Peter Bradwell
BT answers our questions about parental controls
Today BT launched their new Parental Controls service, the latest ISP to roll out network level filters following the Government’s push this summer.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
11 Dec 2013 By Peter Bradwell
Important opinion about data retention due tomorrow
Update: The opinion has now been published, with the Advocate General arguing that the Directive breaches the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
15 Nov 2013 By Peter Bradwell
Sky’s reply to ORG on default internet filters
Sky are the first Internet Service Provider to send us answers to all of our questions about their default filtering.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
09 Nov 2013 By Jim Killock
Now talking is treachery
The security services in Parliament claimed that the Guardian’s stories have led directly to discussions among terrorists to improve their information security.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
06 Sep 2013 By Jim Killock
The security services are stripping us of basic Internet security
Their reports of NSA and GCHQ attacks on fundamental Internet security really matter.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
01 Aug 2013 By Jim Killock
Diane Abbott responds on web forum blocking
On a cycling forum, members who are rightly worried that their forum may be blocked by default filters, Skydancer posted a response he was given by Diane Abbott:
I do not believe that the arrangements to protect children from hard core porn online will affect a forum to discuss cycling!
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
31 Jul 2013 By Jim Killock
Government wants default blocking to hit small ISPs
Announced without fanfare, this is the result of several years work on a Communications Bill, now parked, it seems.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
27 Jul 2013 By Jim Killock
Who exactly is responsible for ‘nudge censorship’?
In essence, DCMS’s Maria Miller, Claire Perry and David Cameron’s staff have hijacked agreed cabinet policy, pushed for something very different and persuaded ISPs that they should implement significantly worse policies than originally envisaged.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
23 Jul 2013 By Jim Killock
ISPs need to explain their filtering systems
We are asking ISPs to explain how their systems will work, and to what extent David Cameron has represented or misrepresented their intentions.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
22 Jul 2013 By Jim Killock
David Cameron is issuing bad advice to parents
Last week, we published a list of questions about the impacts of filtering technologies, on privacy, Internet applications and user awareness of the technology.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Jun 2013 By Jim Killock
Jargon File blocked by O2, Youtube by Orange
Report your blocks here.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Jun 2013 By Jim Killock
Website filtering problems are a ‘load of cock’
The motion laid down by Labour says:
That this House deplores the growth in child abuse images online; deeply regrets that up to one and a half million people have seen such images; notes with alarm the lack of resources available to the police to tackle this problem; further notes the correlation between viewing such images and further child abuse; notes with concern the Government’s failure to implement the recommendations of the Bailey Review and the Independent Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection on ensuring children’s safe access to the internet; and calls on the Government to set a timetable for the introduction of safe search as a default, effective age verification and splash page warnings and to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure these changes are speedily implemented.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
07 Jun 2013 By Peter Bradwell
PRISM: The FISAAA smoking gun
UPDATED: see presentation by Caspar Bowden below.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
31 May 2013 By Peter Bradwell
What mobile internet filtering tells us about porn blocks
There’s been plenty of coverage today of calls to do more to block access to pornography, and specifically pornography on the Internet.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
26 Apr 2013 By Claudia Mateus
Digital Surveillance video
The Digital Surveillance report – to be launched at a public event on Monday – gives a history of surveillance policy, looks at the current state of the law, examines why technology poses a problem and offers alternative, more targeted and more accountable approaches.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
21 Mar 2013 By Jim Killock
Meeting Hacked Off
Simon Phipps’ article and comments from Cory Doctorow and Alec Muffett prompted the invite from Evan Harris and Hacked Off.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
20 Dec 2012 By Peter Bradwell
Confusion over parental Internet controls
Five days ago, the Department for Education announced a very reasonable approach to child protection online.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Dec 2012 By Peter Bradwell
Another church blocked by mobile networks
About this time last year we wrote about a church that had been blocked by O2’s mobile Internet filters.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
12 Dec 2012 By Peter Bradwell
How the Home Office let their Minister down
A week ago the Home Secretary said that anybody opposed to the draft Communications Data Bill was ‘putting politics before lives’.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
30 Nov 2012 By Jim Killock
Data protection debate at MoJ
Yesterday I attended the first of the Department of Justice’s Advisory panel meetings on the new Data Protection regulation laws being proposed at the EU.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Nov 2012 By Jim Killock
Victory in sight: government signals climb down from “default” filtering?
According to reports this Saturday in the Daily Mail and Telegraph, David Cameron will be asking ISPs to ask customers if they have children, and if so, help them install filtering technology.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
01 Nov 2012 By Peter Bradwell
Getting the facts straight in the parental controls debate
Yesterday there was a Westminster Hall debate about the responsibilities of Internet companies.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
18 Jul 2012 By Jim Killock
Snooper’s Charter: a Bill without a proposal
Yesterday’s hearings on the proposed Communications Data Bill provided for some hilarity, as Professor Glees laid into the “civil liberties lobby” and made quite outrageous claims for the need for increased surveillance to reduce criminality.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Jun 2012 By Peter Bradwell
Update on reported BT block of Black Triangle campaign website
Earlier this week TechWeekly reported the campaign group Black Triangle had complained that their site was being blocked by BT.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
28 May 2012 By Peter Bradwell
Reporting ‘over-blocking’ to mobile operators
Since we published our report ‘Mobile Internet censorship: what’s happening and what to do about it‘, jointly with LSE Media Policy project, a number of people have been in touch with us asking what to do if they discover their site is blocked incorrectly by mobile networks’ child protection filters.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
18 May 2012 By Peter Bradwell
New reports of overblocking on mobile networks
Since we launched our new research about Mobile Internet censorship on Monday, there’s been a rise in the number of reports to our website Blocked.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
04 May 2012 By Peter Bradwell
Peace advocates’ website is blocked as porn on UK mobile networks
The past few days have seen a lot of attention given to the neo Mary Whitehouse campaign for default censorship.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
01 May 2012 By Jim Killock
What they want is control
If you want to know how bad things are getting, look no further than the confused conversation on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
15 Feb 2012 By Alessandra Cappuccini and Gemma Craggs
Orange UK blocking La Quadrature du Net
Through reports to the blocked.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
31 Jan 2012 By Jim Killock
Protecting Internet users from tracking and profiling
For three days last week, a group of technicians and lawyers at W3C – the World Wide Web Consortium, headed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee – has debated how to protect user privacy from ‘third party’ tracking websites.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
23 Jan 2012 By Peter Bradwell
UK Mobile operators censor privacy tool ‘Tor’
Open Rights Group and Tor have established that UK mobile networks such as Vodafone, O2 and 3 are filtering UK users’ access to Tor’s primary website (meaning the HTTP version of the Tor Project website, rather than connections to the Tor network) on pre-paid contractless accounts.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
01 Nov 2011 By Peter Bradwell
Joint letter to the Foreign Secretary
To coincide with the start of the London Conference on Cyberspace, eleven organisations and experts on freedom of expression and privacy online have today written to the Foreign Secretary stating that Britain’s desire to promote these ideals internationally is being hampered by domestic policy.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
11 Oct 2011 By Jim Killock
ACTION: Repeal Web Censorship!
Fantastic news: Julian Huppert MP has tabled amendments to the Freedom Bill to repeal the website blocking clauses of the Digital Economy Act.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
24 Jun 2010 By Jason Kitcat
ORG at Hansard debate: Why can’t I vote at my ATM?
This is a cross-posting from Jason Kitcat’s blog.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Jun 2010 By Jim Killock
Summary Health Care records: failing and dangerous
The independent Summary Care Record (SCR) evaluation report show the project to be failing in its core aim, to make people safer, while introducing new dangers to their privacy and dignity.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
20 May 2010 By Jason Kitcat
Changing the way we vote
In the sixth of our series on the challenges facing the new government, Jason Kitcat looks at proposals for changes to the way our elections are run, including dangerous calls for e-voting.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
08 Dec 2009 By Jason Kitcat
London e-counting: Boris doesn’t want to know
An update following on from the Greater London Assembly’s decision to charge ahead with e-counting regardless of the cost or criticism from the Electoral Commission.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
07 Jul 2009 By Michael Holloway
There’s no excuse for industrial-scale snooping
Following yesterday’s news that BT have ditched Phorm, it is now reported that Carphone Warehouse have joined the list of big-name clients shunning the service.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
06 Jul 2009 By Jim Killock
BT’s decision to ditch Phorm is a victory for privacy
It is reported this morning that BT has dropped Phorm’s Webwise, the controversial behavioural advertising system that profiles internet users based on a reading of their internet traffic.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
29 Jun 2009 By Jim Killock
Lobbying and public policy
Corporate lobbying in the European union has long been recognised as a significant problem for citizens.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
28 Apr 2009 By Jim Killock
Phorm and the Home Office: cold comfort to citizens
You’ll probably have read today that leaked emails have shown that the Home Office worked with Phorm to offer advice that would give “comfort” to their investors.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Apr 2009 By Jim Killock
Goverment announces RIPA review in wake of EU threat
The government has announced a review of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Apr 2009 By Jim Killock
Wikipedia blocks Phorm
Wikipedia have announced that they are blocking Phorm as they
consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors’ behavior by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
15 Apr 2009 By Jim Killock
Open Rights Group welcomes decisions to block Phorm
Open Rights Group welcomes decisions by various major websites, including Amazon.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
14 Apr 2009 By Jim Killock
EU Commission moves against UK Government and Phorm
The EU Commission has launched proceedings against the UK concerning Phorm, the intrusive behavioural advertising system.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
25 Mar 2009 By Jim Killock
Telecom Package in second reading – dangerous amendments?
[ A Black Out Europe campaign has started on Facebook.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Dec 2008 By Becky Hogge
Who’s been losing your data?
You hand over your personal details to councils, hospitals, employers and businesses all the time.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
27 Oct 2008 By Becky Hogge
No e-voting in next year’s elections
The Government have announced today that they do not plan to run e-voting pilots during the 2009 European or local elections.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
30 Sep 2008 By Becky Hogge
4 good reasons not to take part in the BT Webwise trial
Today, BT will start trials of Webwise, a technology which analyses your web surfing habits in order to serve you targetted ads.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
19 Sep 2008 By Becky Hogge
What BERR want from Phorm – and what we think they’re missing
Phorm, the targeted behavioural advertising technology company, has been back in the headlines this week.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
29 Jul 2008 By Becky Hogge
Next election for Mayor of London to be counted manually?
Will the 2012 election for Mayor of London be counted manually?
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
18 Jul 2008 By Jason Kitcat
London Assembly Elections Review Committee – who would want to steal an election?
Yesterday the Greater London Authority’s Elections Review Committee met to discuss the conduct of the May 2008 London elections.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
25 Jun 2008 By Glyn Wintle
HMRC “Datagate” verdict: further data loss “a distinct possibility”
Kieran Poynter has published his review of information security at HM Revenue and Customs.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
19 May 2008 By Glyn Wintle
Scottish Affairs Committee recommendation on e-Counting
The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee has released its report on the experience of the Scottish elections and unsurprisingly they are worried about e-counting.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
06 May 2008 By Becky Hogge
Thanks to all ORG Election Observers!
A huge thanks to everyone who devoted their day to democracy last week, and joined the Open Rights Group Election Watch 2008.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
28 Mar 2008 By Becky Hogge
ORG and FIPR meet with Phorm
On Wednesday, at their invitation, I went to Phorm’s offices in Central London.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
17 Mar 2008 By Becky Hogge
Phorm update
It’s difficult to tell which of today’s developments the UK’s major ISPs should be more worried about – the fact that Sir Tim Berners-Lee has publicly stated that he would change his ISP if it started employing systems, like Phorm, which could track his activity on the internet, or the news that UK digital rights gurus the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR) have today written an open letter to the Information Commissioner, urging him to look at the legality of Phorm.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
22 Jan 2008 By Becky Hogge
Devote Your Day to Democracy #2: London elections
Update: The ORG Electionwatch08 pledge has succeeded in record time!
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
15 Nov 2007 By Becky Hogge
Electoral Commission: “e-voting not a mature technology”
Many thanks to Glyn for watching, and transcribing the most interesting bits of, the Scottish Affairs Committee public evidence session in the House of Commons earlier this week.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Nov 2007 By Becky Hogge
Open Rights Group dismayed by Ministry of Justice response on e-voting
In the May 2007 local elections Open Rights Group observers, accredited by the Electoral Commission, took part in the monitoring of pilot electronic voting and electronic counting schemes.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
24 Oct 2007 By Jason Kitcat
Gould Review on Scottish Elections Published
The Electoral Commission and the separate review by Ron Gould that the Commission instituted have published their reports on the Scottish elections of May 2007
The Gould Review in particular identifies a number of important issues, many of which ORG addressed in our own report on the elections published this June.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
03 Sep 2007 By Becky Hogge
Gordon Brown at the NCVO: e-Voting off the agenda?
In a speech to the National Council of Voluntary Organisations this morning, Gordon Brown announced he would be convening a Speaker’s conference on voting reform:
Today I am proposing to the Speaker that he calls a conference to consider, against the backdrop of a decline in turnout, a number of important issues, such as electoral registration, weekend voting, and the representation of women and ethnic minorities in the House of Commons.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
29 Aug 2007 By Michael Holloway
Should we trust electronic elections?
Update: Supporter meetup venues and dates now confirmed – see you there!
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
02 Aug 2007 By Becky Hogge
ORG welcomes Electoral Commission recommendation to halt pilots
The Electoral Commission released its official evaluation of the 3 May electoral pilots in England this morning.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
29 Jun 2007 By Becky Hogge
Watch launch of ORG’s e-voting report
Last week, at the official launch of ORG’s report into e-voting and e-counting in the May 2007 elections, we invited MPs, civil servants and other stakeholders to come and listen to the findings of our observation mission.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
20 Jun 2007 By Jason Kitcat
ORG Election Report highlights problems with voting technology used
Today ORG releases its report into the May 2007 elections in Scotland and England.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
08 May 2007 By Jason Kitcat
A big ORG thank you to our Election Observers
A huge thank you to our entire team of Election Observers who went way beyond the call of duty in their work monitoring last week’s elections.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
04 Apr 2007 By Becky Hogge
ElectionWatch 2007 – ORG goes north of the border
Breaking news from the Scottish Electoral Commission – ORG can observe the election in Scotland!
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
23 Mar 2007 By Becky Hogge
Footage from February e-voting events now online
We’ve finally got video footage from two of our February e-voting events online.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
23 Mar 2007 By Becky Hogge
ORG Election Watch 2007: Registration Pack now online
Our guide to registering to become part of ORG’s volunteer Election Watch 2007 team is now online.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
07 Mar 2007 By Becky Hogge
Election Watch 2007 – Devote your day to democracy!
Doing anything exciting on election day?
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
07 Feb 2007 By Becky Hogge
South Warwickshire clinicians sharing smart cards
Last week, news emerged that the board of South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust is allowing clinicians in their Accident and Emergency department to share smart cards.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
29 Jan 2007 By Jason Kitcat
May 2007 e-Voting Pilots Announced
Finally, two months behind schedule, the Government has announced which local authorities will be running e-voting pilots.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
16 Jan 2007 By Michael Holloway
Taking the lid off e-voting
While the Department for Constitutional Affairs have left us in the dark with no news at all about the e-voting pilots due for May 2007, The Open Rights Group and FIPR have been hard at work.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Aug 2006 By Glyn Wintle
Freedom of Expression – China’s Internet
The House of Commons’ Select Committee on Foreign Affairs have published a report on East Asia that strongly critisices internet corporations working for the Chinese government to filter, censor and control web content.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
27 Jul 2006 By Glyn Wintle
Consultation on penalties for breaching the DPA
Baroness Ashton has published a consultation paper on proposed custodial penalties for breaches of Section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998, which deals with unlawful obtaining of personal data.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
21 Jul 2006 By Glyn Wintle
Public meeting on RIPA consultations
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act Part III gives law enforcement the power to serve notices requiring that encrypted material be “put into an intelligible form” (or as everyone else would say, decrypted).
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
13 Jul 2006 By Glyn Wintle
Information Commissioners annual report
Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, has published his annual report.
Find Out More
Digital Privacy
06 Jul 2006 By Suw Charman Anderson
What do businesses know about you?
Matt Mower has made a pledge on Pledgebank to write to a supplier – say a mobile phone company – to ask them what they know about him, as per the Data Protection Act, but he needs more people to sign up.
Find Out More