Data breach rules for ISPs now in force
Rules on what telecoms operators and ISPs should do about the reporting of personal data breaches have come into force this week.
Under the new regulations, organisations must inform authorities of a breach of their customers’ information within 24 hours or, where there is not enough information to provide a “meaningful” notification, provide an initial set of information within 24 hours and the rest within three days.
- Inform the competent national authority of the incident within 24 hours after detection of the breach, in order to maximise its confinement. If full disclosure is not possible within that period, they should provide an initial set of information within 24 hours, with the rest to follow within three days.
- Outline which pieces of information are affected and what measures have been or will be applied by the company.
- In assessing whether to notify subscribers (i.e. by applying the test of whether the breach is likely to adversely affect personal data or privacy), companies should pay attention to the type of data compromised, particularly, in the context of the telecoms sector, financial information, location data, internet log files, web browsing histories, e-mail data, and itemised call lists.
- Make use of a standardised format (for example an online form that is the same in all EU Member States) for notifying the competent national authority.
The Commission is implementing these rules following a 2011 consultation.
———————————————————————-
Broadband
Government reviews super-connected cities broadband plans
The government has confirmed that plans to spend £150m on broadband infrastructure have been abandoned after legal challenges by Virgin Media and BT.
The scheme has been downgraded after legal challenges from ISPs combined to oppose what they said amounted to illegal state aid to competitors in cities where they were investing in their own networks. They both sued to block the first £10m project by Birmingham City Council.
The Government has since launched a consultation with a view to the scheme becoming available initially across the 22 cities. The Government has also provided additional information (here & here) on its broadband spending announcement:
- 4G coverage will be included in the 99% superfast coverage target for 2018
- The £250 million funding will come from the BBC switchover fund which had already been earmarked for spending on broadband from 2015 onwards
- Broadband Delivery UK will be given greater operational freedom and an enhanced delivery focus, and will be equipped with the commercial skills.
———————————–
Spending review: Broadband
The Chancellor George Osborne MP delivered his second Spending Review for the financial years 2015/16. Amongst the key measures unveiled;
- Broadband Delivery UK will be given greater “operational freedom” and an enhanced delivery focus, and extended to at least 2017
- The Government will work with providers of fixed, wireless and mobile broadband solutions to reach at least 99 per cent of premises in the UK by 2018
- Further investment in clearing high-value spectrum for next generation mobile services
- A further auction of 4G spectrum
The full Government document, Investing Britain’s Future, can be viewed here.
———————————–
Government departments publish their Business Plans
The plans, which set out departments’ priorities for the remainder of this Parliament, and the specific actions they will take, include start and end dates, and the expenditure for each remaining year of the current spending review period.
Of most interest to members is the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s latest plan, which outlines:
- By October, to introduce measures streamlining planning procedures for mobile infrastructure
- Develop and implement proposals in response to the Law Commission recommendations on the Electronic Communications Code by March 2015
- Complete the delivery of rural broadband project by December 2016
- The Government are behind on their pledge to roll-out mobile infrastructure, having initially envisaged it would be complete by April of this year
———————————————————————-
Intellectual Property
New police unit to tackle IP crime
A new police unit has been announced that will seek to tackle intellectual property crimes such as online piracy and counterfeit goods. Intellectual Property Minister, Lord Younger, launched the initiative today with City of London Police Commissioner, Adrian Leppard.
The Intellectual Property Office will provide £2.5m in funding over two years to the City of London Police, which is the National Lead Force for fraud. It is expected the unit will be up and running in September.
———————————————————————-
Miliband warns over “culture of increasingly sexualised images” online
In a speech on Thursday night, the Labour leader Ed Miliband MP warned about “overly sexualised” images being targeted at children online.
The Labour leader said: “There is a culture of increasingly sexualised images among young people: a culture that says that girls will only get on in life if they live up to the crudest of stereotypes; a culture where pornographic images, some violent, are available at a click on a smartphone or a laptop.”
Saying that he worried about these issues as both a parent and a politician, he urged the Government to do more to ensure there were “safer default settings” on computers blocking access to pornographic content online and that there was a “greater responsibility on all of us” to counter these images.
———————————————————————-
MP questions child protection measures on social media
Helen Goodman MP, Shadow Communications Minster, has suggested a popular social networking site of “providing a meeting place for paedophiles” by allowing its pages to host indecent images of children, and questioned what the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller MP, proposed to do about it. Goodman also noted that the recent internet summit hosted by Miller at Downing Street did not address the question of child protection on social media.
Andrew Lansley MP, Leader of the House, responding, indicated he would speak to Miller on the matter, and welcomed the work of the Internet Watch Foundation.
———————————————————————-
Ofcom
Ofcom publish latest telecoms complaint figures
Ofcom have published levels of complaints for the major telecom providers, and also pay TV providers, between January and March 2013.
In Ofcom’s ninth quarterly report, which aims to help consumers make informed decisions, especially those who are considering changing provider or taking a new service, the key findings were:
- On average, Ofcom receives fewer than 300 telecoms complaints a day from consumers
- Broadband services received a higher level of complaints than landline telephone service providers
- Overall complaints, across providers, in fixed broadband were lower overall in the first quarter of 2013 than when Ofcom first surveyed consumers in the end of 2010.
For the full excel spread sheet of the findings please click here.
———————————–
Ofcom publish response to Lords inquiry on media convergence
Ofcom have published their official response to the House of Lords inquiry on media convergence that was published in late March.
In general, as the response makes clear, Ofcom agrees with many of the Committee’s proposals:
- Ofcom currently carries out many of the activities the Committee identified on protecting users from harm; the regulator, for instance, specifically asks parents their concerns about media content that their children either are or may be exposed to.
- The Committee recommended that the forthcoming Communications Bill should include an enhanced and pro-active role for Ofcom in the realm of the internet. Whilst Ofcom welcomed this position, it did state that – particularly in regards to child online safety – legislative change would be required as outlets, such as Facebook and Google, are currently beyond its remit.
———————————————————————-
Online safety
Government to strengthen the requirements to teach e-safety
As part of the Government’s reforms to the national curriculum the requirements to teach e-safety will be strengthened as part of changes to the new IT learning programmes. From September 2014, children in key stages 1 and 2 will be taught about using technology safely.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Nash, disclosed the change in a response to Lord Storey who inquired as to how the Government will ensure children are taught about the potential dangers of the internet and mobile phones. Lord Nash also mentioned that CEOP have run the ‘ThinkUKnow’ programme which has been accessed by nearly 3 million children.
———————————–
Orange: A clarification
Following on from last week’s story on YouTube being blocked on a mobile Network, Orange got in touch with ISPA to let us know that YouTube is not blocked on the network for customers with the default “Moderate” setting. Parents of younger children have the option of applying an alternative “Strict” setting.
———————————————————————-
Consumers demand action to protect their privacy online
More than 10,000 people across nine countries have been polled by ComRes with more than 75% saying they are concerned about their privacy online.
The report, commissioned by Big Brother Watch, saw over 40% say consumers are being harmed by big companies gathering large amounts of personal data for internal use.
- Consumers in South Korea (78%), UK (46%), France (44%) and Australia (40%) are the most critical of big companies gathering personal data.
- 73% said regulators were right to investigate Google’s privacy policy and how it allows the company to collect and combine data on consumers.
- Nearly two-thirds of consumers then agreed that national regulators should do more to force Google to comply with existing regulations concerning online privacy and the protection of personal data.
Last week the Information Commissioner’s Office took further action against Google over the collection of Wi-Fi data by its Street View cars, issuing an enforcement notice that requires Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year within 35 days.
