UK policy Archives

The Online Harms framework just got a lot darker

29 September 201928 September 2019

Something distressing happened this week in the Commons chamber, and the Prime Minister wasn’t even there.

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.

http://webdevlaw.uk

What you need to know about a No Deal Brexit

5 October 201928 September 2019

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.

Heather Burns

http://webdevlaw.uk

Tech policy is no place for hero fantasies

28 August 201918 July 2019

Don’t you love it when a policymaker resigns their post and you can hit publish on an old draft, which is very much my personal thoughts not in a professional …

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

6 November 20194 June 2019

"Careless laws cost liberties", and the age appropriate design code will ensure that young people never have any to begin with.

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.

Heather Burns

http://webdevlaw.uk

Won’t somebody think of the democracy?

2 May 2019

I wrote for PublicTechnology about the Minister for Health exploiting technology fears to run roughshod over consultative democracy and the rule of law. Heather BurnsWe are people of enormous power …

Named Persons II: Scotland’s next mass civilian database

7 January 201924 March 2017

Last week I was chatting with some rather cracking professional digital rights activists. The conversation included my attempt to get them, from their London/English perspective, to understand the different cultural …

The UK Government Digital Strategy is out, and it’s rubbish

25 January 20196 March 2017

On 28 February the UK Government published its Government Digital Strategy. (A mea culpa first. I had confused the Government Transformation Strategy, the internal blueprint for Whitehall digital, with the …

Brexit, the UK, and the Digital Single Market: what’s next?

7 January 20195 September 2016

One of the many questions left unanswered in the face of Brexit is the future of the UK within the EU’s Digital Single Market (DSM).

UK policy

The Online Harms framework just got a lot darker

What you need to know about a No Deal Brexit

Tech policy is no place for hero fantasies

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

Won’t somebody think of the democracy?

Named Persons II: Scotland’s next mass civilian database

The UK Government Digital Strategy is out, and it’s rubbish

How to make a success of Brexit: the House of Lords talks digital and tech

Labour’s questions on digital and tech for the government on #Brexit

Everything said about digital in yesterday’s Brexit statement

Brexit, the UK, and the Digital Single Market: what’s next?