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The draft data protection regulation – a summary of the key provisions
European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has announced a proposal for a new General Data Protection Regulation for the protection of personal data in the European Union. The proposals retain the general principles of data protection law, but also introduce some significant changes around: ...How does Amazon’s new religious beliefs patent equate with data protection laws?
According to online reports, internet retailer Amazon has just been granted a new US patent for a system aimed at “mining of user event data to identify users with common interests”. The system analyses user behaviour to profile users into different categories. Amongst the things monitor...Not so stealthy ‘astroturfing’ of new Nokia Lumia Smartphone
You may have heard the recent outcry over favourable product reviews by Nokia and a Microsoft employees posted (anonymously, of course) about the new Nokia Lumia 600 Smartphone (which sits on Microsoft’s Mango OS) on a third party website. These comments have been criticised for not being genuine ...Embedding accessible design skills in the next generation of web developers
Last Monday I was in Dundee, speaking to final students at the University of Dundee’s School of Computing. The School of Computing takes quite a holistic view of teaching computing, and one of the modules covers the “real world”. The School asks external experts to come in and talk...Creating a successful online business
Last month I attended a Glasgow Chamber of Commerce “Glasgow Talks” presentation by the former managing director of amazon.com in the UK, Glaswegian Brian McBride. I’ve finally found time to look at the notes I made. Brian reflected on his career in business, and offered thoughts o...ASA ruling on misleading price information on a website
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld a complaint against Warwick Castle on the way it displays pricing information on its website. This decision highlights the general move towards transparency of pricing following the Office of Fair Trading’s recent investigation into payment card su...Practical advice for SMEs on web accessibility
Last year the BSI launched a new British Standard on commissioning accessible websites. you can read my blogs on it here and here. BS8878 is intended to help organisations when commissioning websites and web technologies, by providing the commissioning organsisation with a process map to follow that...Techblogger article in Computing magazine on DP and geolocation services
I have an article in last month’s edition of Computing magazine. The article looks at the recent Article 29 Working Party opinion on data protection and geolocation services. Geolocation services are services that utilise the geolocation data (mobile phone triagulation, GPS, wifi hotspot) on a...OFT launches distance selling guidance resource
The Office of Fair Trading has today launched an online resource that provides traders with advice on distance selling rules. The portal brings together guidance for businesses on the rules and regulations that apply to the sale of certain goods and services over the Internet, by telephone, mail ord...Advertising standards and Groupon
Earlier this year, in response to the changing nature of online marketing, the Committee of Advertising Practice extended its Code (the “CAP Code”) to cover “advertisers’ own marketing communications on their own websites and in other non-paid-for space online under their control”. This me...