Let’s talk about democracy, and technology, and how sausages are made.
Safeguarding children’s privacy – the right way
When I retired from open source projects in February, I did so with more than a little curiosity about what new opportunities would come up to fill the void. That’s how life works, after all. Here is the first one.
Tech policy reading suggestions for bored wonks
As long as you’re going to be out of the game for a while, here are some tech/policy/tech policy reading suggestions off my shelves.
The biggest threat to children’s privacy
Yesterday I had the misfortune of discovering an appalling violation of children’s privacy rights: a piece of keylogging stalkerware being sold as a “safeguarding” tool for parents, packaged in a hysterical scare story about sexting.
Press coverage: Google Brexits
I spoke with Business Insider about the political context behind Google’s decision to move UK accounts out of the EU’s jurisdiction. I also spoke with TechCrunch about the issue from … Read more
Conference talk: WordPress’s role in a changing web
I delivered the following talk this morning at WordCamp Vienna 2020. Entitled “WordPress’s role in a changing web”, I wanted to explain how fragile the open web is becoming, share a case study in how to keep it open, and spell out why the time for the WordPress project to act is now.
Euractiv: AdequacyLOL
I’m quoted in Euractiv today on Boris Johnson’s unilateral declaration that the UK is taking its ball and going home where data protection adequacy is concerned. The article is also … Read more
We’re out. What now?
As I’ve written on my side blog, https://afterbrexit.tech: With the UK now out of the European Union, it is clear beyond any doubt that Brexit is being used as a … Read more
The Startup Manifesto
I was delighted to contribute to The Entrepreneurs Network and Coadec’s joint 2019 General Election manifesto, where we set forth our policy ideas for the next government. My contributions, as always, were around internet regulation.
Interview on privacy and WordPress with WPBuilds
In July I sat down with Nathan Wrigley from WP Builds for a chat about open source, privacy, politics, and open source privacy politics. The interview has now been published … Read more
Because I always look impressive in blockquotes
Last week I was interviewed by Samuel Stolton at EURACTIV for his weekly Digital Brexit bulletin. We discussed where UK tech policy is currently standing as we prepare to leave the UK (whenever that is).
About that WordPress autoupdates thing.
There was a call for comments ahead of this weekend’s scheduled panel discussion at WCUS on the autoupdates plan. I’ve been asked to respond to it from my perspective, so I will.
The Online Harms framework just got a lot darker
Something distressing happened this week in the Commons chamber, and the Prime Minister wasn’t even there.
A Smashing talk and my big announcement
This month I was honoured to speak at Smashing Conference Freiburg in Germany, where I closed out the event with a talk about developing privacy-conscious projects. You can view the … Read more
What you need to know about a No Deal Brexit
I didn’t think we’d be here, but here we are. In my capacity as a Policy Fellow at COADEC, the tech policy body for the UK’s tech startups, I have written a plain-English guide for tech and digital businesses to use to prepare for a No Deal Brexit. While the guidance is aimed at startups and scaleups, the advice is applicable to all tech businesses regardless of where they are on their journey.