Author Archives: John Carr

About John Carr

John Carr is one of the world's leading authorities on children's and young people's use of digital technologies. He is Senior Technical Adviser to Bangkok-based global NGO ECPAT International, Technical Adviser to the European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online, which is administered by Save the Children Italy and an Advisory Council Member of Beyond Borders (Canada). Amongst other things John is or has been an Adviser to the United Nations, ITU, the European Union, the Council of Europe and European Union Agency for Network and Information Security and is a former Board Member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. He is Secretary of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety. John has advised many of the world's largest internet companies on online child safety. In June, 2012, John was appointed a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. More: http://johncarrcv.blogspot.com

The long and winding road

Posted on February 13, 2020

It has been a busy week in the UK. Yesterday the Government finally published  its “initial response” to the Online Harms consultation. That’s the consultation which was concluded in July last year (admittedly a lot has happened since then e.g. … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, E-commerce, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation

Facebook urged to rethink its plans for encryption

Posted on February 6, 2020

Today children’s organizations from over 100 hundred countries around the world publish a letter urging Facebook to rethink its plans on encryption. So far the story has been picked up and reported by the BBC, the Financial Times and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Default settings, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

A big step with bigger implications

Posted on January 24, 2020

Earlier this week the British media were full of reports of the “Age Appropriate Design Code”. It had just been published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s  data protection authority. The Code’s provisions are likely to become fully … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Consent, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

Movement on age verification?

Posted on January 19, 2020

R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex Parte Fire Brigades Union is  a famous case from 1995. It was decided by  our Supreme Court (then still called the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords). The Government … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation

Yesterday in Parliament – news and no news about porn

Posted on January 10, 2020

Yesterday was the final day of debate on the “Gracious Address” in the House of Lords. The Address had been delivered by Her Majesty on 19th December to mark the opening of a new Parliamentary year and a new Parliament … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Default settings, Internet governance, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation

Is the cure worse than the disease?

Posted on December 23, 2019

In a blog which focuses on the meaning of “privacy” in the modern world, Privacy International published an excellent summary of key international instruments which address the subject. At the end they announce their conclusion Privacy is a qualified, fundamental … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, Child abuse images, Default settings, E-commerce, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

A big “thank you” to Facebook

Posted on December 19, 2019

The essence of Facebook’s argument for changing Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct Messaging from unencrypted to encrypted environments is that “all the other major messaging Apps are already encrypted or are going to be so if we don’t do this … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation