[ORG PM] ORG Policy Update - 14 August 2015

[Alexandra Stefanou]

ORG policy update/2015-w33


This is ORG's Policy Update for the week beginning 07/08/2015


*This is my last Policy update, after having worked for ORG for the last
three months. I hope these updates provided you with an helpful weekly
summary of news relating to tech, policy and privacy. This one is unusually
short, due to the UK and European Parliaments being on holiday, and people
just generally not doing much. The Policy Update will be back
mid-September, when news pick up the pace!*

*Gregoire D.*


National Developments Police Scotland accused of abusing RIPA to
investigate on a journalist and find his source

A BBC journalist, Eaman O'Connor, claimed at the beginning of the month
that Police Scotland used RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Regulation_of_Investigatory_Powers_Act_2000>)
to snoop on him and identify as “very dependable source” of his, after
O'Connor investigated on an unresolved but extremely costly murder
investigation. The journalist claims
<http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/bbc-journalist-who-investigated-screwed-police-murder-inquiry-suspects-force-used-ripa-hunt-his>
that he has been targeted without judicial approval, and despite the changes
to the law
<http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/police-scotland-accused-unlawfully-using-ripa-find-journalistic-source-march-law-change>
made in March to further protect journalists and their sources. O'Connor
expressed the concern that these practices “intimidate and impede
whistleblowers and people who want to come forward to tell the truth about
something they believe shouldn't have happened”.

The Sunday Herald revealed
<http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/first-minister-nicola-sturgeon-urged-come-clean-what-she-knew-about-police-scotlands-alleged>
on Sunday, August 9th, that First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/w/index.php?title=Nicola_Sturgeon_MP&action=edit&redlink=1>
was aware of the claims that Police Scotland was abusing its RIPA powers.
The Labour Party <https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Labour_Party> has
asked Nicola Sturgeon to “come clean on her involvement” in this affair,
and Labour's justice spokeman Hugh Henry has filed a Freedom of Information
request on the matter.
Labour Party members allowed to vote for the leadership by email or on a
website

The Labour Party leadership election will be run by the Electoral Reform
Services until September 10th. Though ballots will be posted, Labour
members will have the possibility to vote online. It is still unclear if
this this means voting on a website (as indicated on the official FAQ
<http://www.labour.org.uk/blog/entry/faqs-on-the-labour-leadership-and-deputy-leadership-elections>)
or via email (as indicated on an email sent to members). In any case, the
implications for the privacy and the security of the voting are potentially
serious.

Electronic voting has upsides, as it facilitates voting for people who
can't or do not want to go to a voting booth, but NGOs working on promoting
on election integrity and tech experts agree
<http://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/03/02/1940236/in-theory-and-practice-why-internet-based-voting-is-a-bad-idea>
that this electoral system endangers ballot secrecy and could compromise
the integrity of the results. Hackers have demonstrated
<http://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/10/09/1750214/dc-internet-voting-trial-attacked-2-different-ways>
how easily they can gain access to and modify the records of some
electronic voting systems.
Technology and Internet companies Windows 10 sends private information to
Microsoft even if one sets it to protect privacy

Microsoft <https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Microsoft>'s newly
launched operative system, Windows 10, has been severely criticised
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/31/windows-10-microsoft-faces-criticism-over-privacy-default-settings>
for sharing a lot of private information if you keep the default settings,
and the debate probably will not abate now that Ars Technica found out that
it keeps sending information
<http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/>
to Microsoft servers even if the user sets it to protect his privacy. The
website reports on several experiments it conducted but couldn't find out
“the exact nature of the information being sent” to various Microsoft
servers, and argues that “it's not clear why any data is being sent at all”
when one user chooses the most privacy-protective settings and disables
cloud services. The machine's unique identification numbers is one of the
information being set.

Contacted for comment by The Guardian, Microsoft mentioned
<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/13/windows-10-sends-identifiable-data-microsoft-despite-privacy-settings>
the need to keep the machine up to date, but “ did not elaborate on what
purpose the communications have, or whether it stores or tracks the data”.
ORG Media coverage

See ORG Press Coverage
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/ORG_Press_Coverage> for full
details.
2015-08-12 – Herald Scotland - Public sector encouraged to move to 'cloud
computing' despite hacking fears
<http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13588692.Public_sector_encouraged_to_move_to__cloud_computing__despite_hacking_fears/>
Author:
Daniel Sanderson Summary: Jim Killock quoted on the possible legal dangers
of putting public sectors information on the “cloud” 2015-08-11 – Scottish
Legal News - IPO proposes extension of maximum jail term for online
copyright offences to ten years
<http://www.scottishlegal.com/2015/08/11/ipo-proposes-extension-of-maximum-jail-term-for-online-copyright-offences-to-ten-years/>
Author:
Summary: Explain ORG's argument against increasing maximum sentence for
copyright infringement to 10 years in jail 2015-08-10 – Ars Technica - The
UK’s proposed 10-year max jail term for file sharing must be stopped
<http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2015/08/the-uks-proposed-10-year-max-jail-term-for-online-copyright-infringement-must-be-stopped/>
Author:
Glyn Moody Summary: Explain ORG's argument against increasing maximum
sentence for copyright infringement to 10 years in jail ORG contact details

Staff page <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff>

   -

   Jim Killock, Executive Director
   <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#jim>
   -

   Javier Ruiz, Policy <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#javier>
   -

   Ed Paton-Williams, Campaigns
   <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#ed>
   -

   Pam Cowburn, Communications
   <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#pam>
   -

   Lee Maguire, Tech <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#lee>
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