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Articles for Category Tag - Internet Privacy

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.

Gov Consult on Legal Measures to Ban Huawei from UK FTTP and 5G Mobile

18th February, 2022 (28 Comments)

The Government has today launched a new consultation, which sets out their proposed legal instruments to control the use of Huawei’s telecoms equipment in UK networks. The move reflects both their BAN on the company’s kit for ultrafast 5G mobile platforms and related restrictions in gigabit broadband ISP networks etc.

Encrypted Computer Data by 123rf ID104712693

Cybersecurity and Human Rights Groups Warn UK Against Encryption Ban

9th February, 2022 (3 Comments)

Some 50 leading security, human rights and technology experts have put their names to a new letter that accuses the UK Government of “misleading the public” with a “scaremongering” campaign against the use of end-to-end encryption on the internet, which helps to keep everything from financial transactions to messaging secure.

EE Staff Deny UK Mobile Network Blocks Apple’s Private Relay

13th January, 2022 (12 Comments)

Support agents working for mobile operator EE (BT) have denied claims by some UK customers (here and here), and online news reports (here, here and here), that their mobile broadband (4G and 5G) network is intentionally blocking Apple’s iCloud linked ‘Private Relay‘ feature (such a block may clash with Net Neutrality rules).

Email Inbox Electronic Communication 123rf

ICO Fines UK ISP Virgin Media GBP50,000 for Email SPAMMING UPDATE

8th December, 2021 (11 Comments)

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has today hit broadband ISP and TV operator Virgin Media (VMO2) with a fine of £50,000 after they were found to have sent 451,217 direct marketing emails to people “who had previously opted out of marketing communications” from the same operator.

Fiber Optic cables connected to an optic ports and Network cables connected to ethernet ports

Headaches for UK ISPs as Telecoms Security Bill to Become Law

9th November, 2021 (15 Comments)

The UK Government’s new Telecommunications (Security) Bill (TSB) is set to become law after passing through both houses of parliament this month, but it goes much further than just banning Huawei from the UK’s 5G mobile networks. Broadband ISPs, both big and small alike, also face a cacophony of tedious new rules.

Ofcom Tell UK Phone Operators to Block Foreign VoIP Scam Calls UPDATE

25th October, 2021 (23 Comments)

The UK telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has reportedly taken radical action to curb the plague of scam calls, which it is attempting to achieve by “ordering” major phone operators to automatically block any “suspicious” Voice-over-Internet (VoIP) calls that come from abroad if they pretend to come from numbers in the UK.

EE PhoneSmart Licence Tries to Educate Kids About Online Behaviour

21st October, 2021 (1 Comment)

Mobile operator EE today claims to have launched the UK’s first “phone licence” (PhoneSmart Licence), which is really just a free educational website that aims to teach young people about “how to stay safe and be kind online“, and it will also help parents and guardians with related knowledge.

Scam Calls and Texts Hit 45 Million UK People Over Summer UPDATE

20th October, 2021 (16 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has estimated that 44.6 million UK people may have received scam calls and text messages during the past three months (summer period). But worryingly, around 2% of those who received such a message or call (roughly a million people) reported following the scammers’ instructions.

Apple’s Private Relay Service Creates Challenges for UK ISPs

5th October, 2021 (24 Comments)

Technology giant Apple recently released their iOS 15 software for iPad (15.5) and iPhones, which introduced a new feature called ‘iCloud Private Relay’ that “hides your IP address and browsing activity [when using Safari] so that no one – including Apple – can see [it].” Naturally, the UK Government and broadband ISPs have concerns.

NETGEAR Broadband Routers Exposed to New Security Bug

22nd September, 2021 (0 Comments)

A large number of NETGEARs broadband and WiFi routers have been left vulnerable to a new Remote Code Execution (RCE) exploit, which works by allowing a hacker to manipulate the update process for each device’s Circle Smart Parental Control Service in order to gain control of the router.