Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Internet Privacy (343 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Internet Privacy

Softened Online UK Internet Censorship Bill Returns to Parliament

28th November, 2022 (18 Comments)

The UK Government has confirmed the mess of confusing legislation that is the Online Safety Bill (OSB), which attempts to clampdown on “harmful” internet content (i.e. via fines, website blocks by broadband ISPs and other sanctions), will return to Parliament “next week” (5th Dec) with some key changes.

Ofcom Tells UK Phone Providers to Identify and Block Spoofed Calls

15th November, 2022 (13 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today introduced new rules that will require phone providers to crackdown on “fake phone numbers” by identifying and blocking “spoofed calls“, where feasible. The move aims to tackle a problem that, during the summer, resulted in 40.8 million people being targeted by suspicious calls and texts.

EE UK Launch New Customer Packages to Improve Home Security

26th October, 2022 (10 Comments)

Broadband ISP and mobile operator EE UK has today moved to improve the online and offline security of their internet connected customers by introducing a number of new products, including a new Norton powered online “Cyber Security” solution and a “Smart Home Security” (alarm etc.) system powered by Verisure.

Government Hints at Climbdown Over UK Online Safety Bill

21st September, 2022 (26 Comments)

The UK Government’s new Culture Secretary, Michelle Donelan, has signalled that the mess of complex and confusing legislation that is the Online Safety Bill (OSB), which seeks to tackle “harmful” internet content (i.e. via website blocks by broadband ISPs, fines and other sanctions), is likely to be softened before it returns to parliament.

New UK Telecoms and Internet Security Code to Go Live in October

30th August, 2022 (2 Comments)

The UK Government has announced that network providers (e.g. broadband ISPs and mobile operators) will become subject to new regulations – under the Telecommunications (Security) Act – from 1st Oct 2022, which aside from restricting the use of Huawei, will also impose changes to make networks safer from cyberattack.

Rights Holders Move Closer to Website Blocks via DNS Providers

19th July, 2022 (13 Comments)

People who use Cloudflare’s popular third-party public Domain Name System (DNS) resolver – via the easy to remember IP address of 1.1.1.1 – may soon find that the company is forced by the courts to block websites that have been found to facilitate internet copyright infringement (piracy).

Ofcom Sets Out UK Internet Censorship Plans Under Safety Bill

6th July, 2022 (19 Comments)

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today set out their plans for putting the mess of complex and confusing legislation – that is the Online Safety Bill (OSB) – into practice, which aims to tackle “harmful” internet content through website bans by broadband ISPs, fines and other sanctions.

BT Seek Delay to UK Deadline for Removal of Huawei’s Telecoms Kit

30th June, 2022 (16 Comments)

The Chief Technology Officer for UK telecoms giant BT (EE), Howard Watson, has revealed that the operator is seeking more time from the Government for it to remove Huawei’s kit from the sensitive core of their national broadband and mobile network (this is due to be replaced by similar kit from Ericsson).

Government Moves Forward with UK ISP Internet Snooping System

27th June, 2022 (58 Comments)

The UK Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) appear to be making progress on the development of a new internet snooping system and database, which could soon require broadband ISPs and mobile operators to provide various agencies with access to view a log of your online activity.

smartphone with incoming call from unknown person

Government Sets Out New UK Penalties for Nuisance Calls and Texts UPDATE

16th June, 2022 (13 Comments)

The UK Government has today responded to an earlier consultation on their new Data Reform Bill (DRB) by, among other things, setting out how they’ll increase the financial penalties for those pestering people with nuisance calls and text (SMS) messages. But this probably won’t do much to stop calls made from outside the country.

2022 Queens Speech Covers Digital Infrastructure and Internet Safety

10th May, 2022 (10 Comments)

Prince Charles has today carried out the State Opening of Parliament event – formally still referred to as the “Queen’s Speech“, which sets out the UK Government’s agenda for the coming session. The speech contained no real surprises, but it did include and reiterate some bills that will impact broadband infrastructure and internet safety.

Freedom Fibre Female Engineer with Tablet

ISP Freedom Fibre Warns of Fake UK FTTP Broadband Engineers

24th April, 2022 (7 Comments)

Network builder Freedom Fibre (FF), which is supported by UK ISP partner TalkTalk (here) and is busy deploying a new 10Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across semi-rural parts of North England, has warned residents in some of their network patches to be on the lookout for individuals posing as FF engineers.

Internet Censorship Beckons as UK Online Safety Bill Hits Parliament

16th March, 2022 (29 Comments)

The UK Government’s controversial Online Safety Bill, which will task Ofcom with clamping down on “harmful” online content (hate speech, bullying, terrorism, conspiracy theories etc.) by threatening such providers with web-blocks, fines and possibly even jail – if they don’t enforce the rules, has today been introduced to parliament.

Mobile Operators in UK Competition Moan vs Apple Private Relay

14th March, 2022 (14 Comments)

The Mobile UK trade body, which represents Three UK, EE (BT), O2 (VMO2) and Vodafone, has called upon the Competition and Markets Authority to probe the impact of Apple’s new iCloud linked internet privacy tool – ‘Private Relay‘ – due to concerns over its negative impacts on their network optimisation and filtering measures.

Error message concept. Alert, attention notification. Important reminder

Government Extends UK Online Safety Bill to Tackle Scam Adverts

8th March, 2022 (15 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that their controversial new Online Safety Bill (OSB) will be extended to add a new duty, which aims to bring fraudulent paid-for adverts on social media and internet search engines into scope, whether they are controlled by the platform itself or an advertising intermediary.

Internet and UK Telecoms Security Picture

Gov Consults on New UK Telecoms and Internet Security Code UPDATE

1st March, 2022 (2 Comments)

The UK Government has today begun to consult on draft regulations for their new Telecommunications (Security) Act which, aside from banning Huawei inside 5G mobile networks (and restricting their involvement with FTTP broadband), will also impose a cacophony of tedious new security rules on telecoms operators.

Ofcom Crackdown on Number Spoofing to Tackle UK SPAM Calls

23rd February, 2022 (11 Comments)

Last year the national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, estimated that 44.6 million UK people may have received scam calls and text messages during just the three months of summer (here), with 2% of recipients being duped by them. In response, the regulator has today proposed changes to tackle the use of fake phone numbers.