Category Archives: Self-regulation

Meet the “cappers” or, rather, don’t

Posted on March 31, 2020 by

“Cappers” is a term that has been around for a while.  Click here  for a great explanation from Signy Arnason, Associate Director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. “Capping” is about tricking children into doing something inappropriate, for example … Continue reading →

Posted in CEOP, Child abuse images, Default settings, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation, Uncategorized

More on the risks associated with strong encryption

Posted on March 25, 2020 by

I hope someone in Facebook reads this and passes a message up the line. I am sure it will only add to the substantial number they have already received on exactly the same point. Cho Joo-bin lives in South Korea. … Continue reading →

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

Sad, but unfortunately not surprising

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

Free speech and civil liberties organizations do a hugely important job scrutinizing the activities of state agencies. However, you are forced to wonder if, sometimes, they don’t completely lose touch with common humanity. The Electronic Frontier Foundation  (EFF)has just served … Continue reading →

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

More progress in the fight against online child sex abuse

Posted on March 13, 2020 by

Last week representatives from the Governments of the “Five Eyes” nations, (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA) gathered in Washington DC. They endorsed a set of eleven voluntary principles to combat a range of online threats to … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Facebook, Google, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

Companies behaving like states

Posted on March 10, 2020 by

Tech companies and Governments between them created the crisis of confidence that is said to be stimulating the demand for greater online privacy protection. Yet they are now lining up on opposite ends of the argument about how to address … Continue reading →

Posted in Consent, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation

Good news from Australia

Posted on March 5, 2020 by

Good news from Australia. A Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry today publishes its findings, coming down in favour of age verification as an important tool to help keep pornography away from the eyes of people it was never meant for, namely … Continue reading →

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

No room for complacency

Posted on February 20, 2020 by

My last blog was fairly upbeat about the UK Government’s interim response to the consultation on Online Harms. True the response was light on concrete proposals but much of the language was excellent. The overall tone was tough and purposeful. … Continue reading →

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