Jul 30, 2014 | Regulation
The House of Lords home affairs, health and education EU sub-committee has condemned the ruling in May from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling concerning search engines and the “right to be forgotten”. The committee said that it was wrong to make...
Jul 25, 2014 | Regulation
As rules on cookies tracking become stricter, new web tracking techniques have cropped up, including a new ‘canvas fingerprinting’ tool that’s almost impossible for users to block… for now. According to a new report by ProPublica, at least five percent of the...
Jul 24, 2014 | Regulation
The vast majority of new broadband customers in the UK are opting out of porn filters when prompted to install them by service providers, according to new research from Ofcom. The study found that only 4% of new Virgin Media customers have signed up to the parental...
Jul 24, 2014 | Regulation, Russia
Russia’s parliament has passed a new amendment that forces Internet firms such as Facebook, Google, Skype and Twitter to physically store all electronic data involving its citizens within the country. The amendment to Russia’s existing anti-terrorism...
Jul 23, 2014 | Regulation
An Irish government genealogy site has been criticised by the country’s data watchdog for leaking ID information. The Irish Genealogy site left personal data open to identity thieves, including a date of birth, an area where someone grew up and their...
Jul 23, 2014 | Regulation, UK
Suspected pirates are about to get chased by their ISPs as the UK steps up enforcement of digital copyright infringements as digital marketing regulation becomes more sophisticated – but do you want your ISP knowing what you’re downloading? Under the new scheme, BT,...
Jul 18, 2014 | Regulation, Social media
Google has dropped its requirement for people to use their real names on its social networking service Google+ and its video service YouTube, in a move that suggests the web giant is scaling back its social media ambitions. The requirement has been unpopular since it...
Jul 15, 2014 | Mobile, Regulation
Google’s smart home company Nest has joined forces with Samsung and others for form a new Internet of Things group aiming to set industry standards for connected devices. Called Thread, the non-profit group also counts ARM, Freescale, Big Ass Fans, Silicon Labs, and...
Jul 15, 2014 | Regulation
The UK spy agency GCHQ has been named as the biggest “internet villain” at the annual Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) awards. Almost fifty organisations were nominated across sixteen categories in the awards 16th year and the evening ended with the...
Jul 11, 2014 | Email marketing, Regulation, Social media, UK
As police and security service surveillance powers are rushed through parliament, the UK government is being criticised for mishandling data retention legislation that forces internet firms to store key communication information. It’s a strong reminder of the...
Jul 10, 2014 | Mobile, Regulation
Poor network speeds, click fraud and user error are distorting mobile ad campaign metrics, with half of all clicks failing to reach their destination, according to new research. The study, from mobile ad-serving firm S4M, tracked and analysed multiple mobile ad...
Jul 8, 2014 | Online video, Regulation
Google is following Netflix’ strategy by introducing a new pop-up bar on YouTube that warns users if their videos fail to stream smoothly- reminding them that they should blame their ISPs rather than the video sharing site. The notifications pop up on videos that take...
Jul 7, 2014 | Regulation, Search engine marketing
Google has responded to criticisms over their early implementation of the “right to be forgotten” ruling after various complaints. Watch this video from Bloomberg discussing the link removal row: The Guardian protested the removal of its stories describing how a...
Jul 7, 2014 | Regulation
AVG has urged legislators to devise a plan that stops data gathering firms from spying on children by placing limits on how much can be collected from portable devices. Speaking at the Child Internet Safety Summit Yuval Ben-Itzhak, AVG’s CTO, said that there should be...
Jul 4, 2014 | Regulation, Search engine marketing
The controversial ‘right to be forgotten law’ forced on Google search results has come under fire after the BBC received a takedown request for a seven-year-old article criticising a former Merrill Lynch chief executive. The action, which comes as the internet search...
Jul 3, 2014 | Regulation, UK
Adult content filters implemented by the UK’s major internet service providers are blocking one in five websites (19%), with critics claiming the technology is not fit for purpose. New research from the Open Rights Group shows that ISPs are blocking harmless...
Jul 3, 2014 | Facebook marketing, Regulation
Facebook is being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK after a study showed a psychological experiment influenced what users saw in their news feeds, raising fresh privacy concerns. A company researcher apologized on June 29 for a test in...
Jul 2, 2014 | Mobile, Regulation, UK
Google Glass is facing further bans in the UK ahead of the upcoming commercial launch of its augmented reality eyewear. Although the technology has been available in the US as a prototype for a couple of years, the test version of the device was only brought out in...
Jun 30, 2014 | Mobile, Regulation
Is your website audience is real or from robot traffic? Latest research from the US shows a surge in bots for mobile websites that will have many brands anxious about whether they can trust their mobile analytics. Suspicious US web traffic was down from a high of 61%...
Jun 26, 2014 | Mobile, Regulation
More than 40,000 Iraqis downloaded FireChat last weekend, as growing political turmoil and web censorship in the country has lead to users embracing a ‘private internet’ where they can message each other without fear of the government shutting down access...
