Heather Burns

We are people of enormous power and influence over the web. I empower digital professionals to use that power wisely. As a tech policy and regulation specialist, I educate the profession on the policy issues which impact our work, inspire professionals to participate constructively in the regulatory process, and facilitate cooperation between policymakers and digital leaders. Hire me to write, speak, or consult.

So You’re Acquiring a Privacy-Invasive Social Network!

In the midst of the buzz about Automattic acquiring Tumblr, some of us took pains to point out that we literally can’t see anything on Tumblr blogs, nor would we want to – not at the cost of playing Verizon/Oath’s privacy head games.

Read moreSo You’re Acquiring a Privacy-Invasive Social Network!

A Glaswegian and a Norwegian walk into a trolley problem

Writing for the web is part of the job, but writing for something you can hold in your hands is special. This one definitely hits the target.

The first ever print issue of Smashing Magazine is shipping worldwide any day now. A deep dive into privacy and ethics, it includes a provocation piece Morten Rand-Hendriksen and I wrote on ethics washing.

Read moreA Glaswegian and a Norwegian walk into a trolley problem

Just how bad is the ICO’s draft age appropriate design code?

Last month I worked with Coadec, the policy voice of Britain’s tech startups, to lead on the formulation of their response to the ICO’s draft age appropriate design code. I wrote this draft document as a roadmap for the work, although what follows here are very much my own personal thoughts, not Coadec’s.

Read moreJust how bad is the ICO’s draft age appropriate design code?

What I learned in the Mozilla Open Leaders initiative

Mozilla logo

This week wraps up my training in the Mozilla Open Leaders initiative. It’s been an amazing, very intense 14 weeks of learning, all in support of the team in the cross-project CMS privacy group.

Read moreWhat I learned in the Mozilla Open Leaders initiative

Castles and unicorns: my legacy to the WordPress community

One of my proudest professional achievements was selecting and wrangling speakers for three years of WordCamp Edinburgh. Over the past week, videos of 2017’s talks and most of 2018’s talks have been posted at wordpress.tv.

Read moreCastles and unicorns: my legacy to the WordPress community

The elephant in the room

I run a workshop for developers and digital leaders on how to build privacy into projects on the governance, project, and code levels. I was meant to return to PHP Yorkshire this weekend to run it as a half-day course. I’ll be staying home instead.

Read moreThe elephant in the room

Announcement: Mozilla Open Leaders

Mozilla logo

On #PrivacyDay #DataProtectionDay 2019, I am honoured to announce that I have been selected as a Mozilla Open Leader for my work in support of the cross-CMS privacy working group.

Read moreAnnouncement: Mozilla Open Leaders

The era of sociopaths is over

It is intellectually inconsistent to preach about a disruptive, billion-dollar vision and imagine it as being free from regulatory considerations. It fascinates me how often entrepreneurs lack a basic grounding in the regulatory hurdles they may face. Hemant Tajena, 'The era of move fast and break things is over'

Read moreThe era of sociopaths is over

What I’ll be working on in 2019

Better late than never – I blame the Scottish winter darkness – I would like to share what I will be working on this year, who I will be working with, and what I would like to focus on.

Read moreWhat I’ll be working on in 2019