Author: Rob Burdett

‘Ripple’ Takes Second Place To Bitcoin

Posted on by Rob Burdett

As investors look for alternatives to the volatile bitcoin bubble, crypto-currency Ripple has become the second most valuable virtual cash system, followed by ethereum and litecoin.

Bitcoin Bubble Fear Means Ripple Looks Attractive

The media has been full of reports about the steep and rapid rise in the value of the blockchain-powered crypto-currency. From a value of £740 per bitcoin at the beginning of 2017, to in excess of £15,000 in December, falling (with a few bumpy troughs) to £11,000 this week, many investors, spooked by what many see as a bubble have been looking for alternatives.

It is likely to be no coincidence, therefore, that the value of crypto-currency Ripple has risen as bitcoin’s value fell to see it take second place to bitcoin at $2.34 (1.73) per XRP (the name for a single Ripple unit). Although this doesn’t seem to be a large amount, it is much higher than the $0.0065 (just over half a US cent) each unit was worth a year ago.

The crypto-currency of Ripple is now worth $142bn, second in value to bitcoin at $251.4bn, and ahead of ethereum at $100.6bn and litecoin at $13.2bn.

The Ripple

Unlike bitcoin which operates outside of the reach of the banks, Ripple was set up to help banks speed up and modernise how they pay each other. 100 banks, so far, have signed up to use Ripple’s payments system. These sign-ups include big hitters like Bank of America and UBS, Japan’s big credit card companies (for payments and settlement), and some South Korean and Japanese banks (through a pilot project to handle cross-border payments).

Ripple has no real assets or revenue streams to support the rate, and the market is calculated by multiplying the number of XRP coins in existence by the current dollar exchange rate. Also, Ripple XRP coins, unlike e.g. bitcoin, aren’t ‘mined’ by the members of the network that processes the transactions, but have been pre-mined and are slowly released as the network is used.

It is believed, therefore, that the recent adoption of the currency by these banks and credit card companies, and the search for alternatives to the uncertainty of the bitcoin bubble have been the main drivers of the value of Ripple.

Ethereum and Litecoin

Ethereum, the next highest value crypto-currency after Ripple has seen an increase in value of 9,240 % year over year. Litecoin meanwhile, has also seen a rapid and steep rise in value of 5,195 % year over year (Coinbase figures).

The rise in the value of these crypto-currencies also corresponds with the fall in value of bitcoin.

Crypto-Jacking Warning

With the rise in value and popularity of crypto-currencies, experts have warned that there are likely to be more incidents of ‘crypto-jacking’, where people’s devices are taken over by people trying to mine crypto-currencies. Earlier this month, for example, the Android phone-wrecking Trojan malware, dubbed ‘Loapi’, was discovered by Kaspersky researchers. In tests, after running it for several days mining the Minero crypto-currency, the android phone used in the test was overloaded with activity (trying to open about 28,000 unique URLs in 24 hours) to the point that the battery and phone cover were badly damaged and distorted by the resulting heat.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The rise of crypto-currencies, such as bitcoin, to the point where it was finally being taken up by investors, businesses and governments, has been filled with high profile ups and downs e.g. a fall in its value on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange following a hack in late 2013. Predictions of the value being a risky bubble, coupled with a hack of the NiceHash digital currency marketplace’s payment system resulting in the theft of bitcoin to an estimated value of $80m have sent the value of bitcoin downwards again in December. As investors look elsewhere for safer alternatives or the next big thing, and as they become more used to the concept of crypto-currencies, Ripple ethereum and litecoin have benefitted.

Bitcoin has many attractive advantages for businesses such as the speed and ease with which transactions can take place due to the lack of central bank and traditional currency control (Ripple is actually a product of the banks).

Crypto-currencies generally mean easier, faster and more convenient cross-border and global trading, but traditional currencies tend to have the backing of assets or promises of assets of some kind. Crypto-currencies, therefore, tend to be less trusted and more volatile in the markets, and it’s likely there will be many more ups and downs with many different crypto-currencies, although bitcoin has a head start and has weathered storms before. It’s a case of watch this space.

Dodgy Apps in Google Play

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Security researchers have discovered 36 fake and malicious apps for Android that can harvest your data and track your location, masquerading as security tools in the trusted Google Play Store.

Hidden

The 36 malicious apps were, on the surface, the kind of security apps that are commonly downloaded by (Android) smartphone users to protect their device and data from cyber attacks and hackers. Ironically, the apps, which had re-assuring names such as Security Defender and Security Keeper, and which performed some legitimate tasks on the surface, such as cleaning junk, saving battery, scanning, and CPU cooling, were found to be hiding malware, adware and even tracking software.

Once the apps were launched, researchers discovered that they would not appear on the device launcher’s list of applications, and the shortcuts would also not be shown on the user’s phone screen.

The malicious app makers are thought to have known that the “hide” function would not work on some devices (e.g. Google Nexus 6P, LGE LG-H525n and ZTE N958St.) because the hide was designed not to run on them. They may also have done this to avoid attracting the attention of Google Play’s inspection / checking system.

False Notifications, Fake Alerts, and Adverts

The fake apps were even found to have been designed to deliver false, often convincing, but sometimes alarming security notifications, warnings and pop-up windows to the user. For example, users would be shown pop-ups to show them that fake security issues had been resolved. Also, if the user installed another app, then it would be reported as suspicious.

Users of these fake apps could also fall victim to an aggressive barrage of advertisements with each action, because the app may have been designed for display and click fraud.

Asked To Sign – But Collecting Data

In some cases, in an abuse of privacy, the malicious apps were found to ask users to sign and agree to an end-user licence agreement (EULA) relating to the information to be gathered and used by the app. In fact, the hidden aspects of these apps were found to be able to collect large amounts of device and user information, such as Android ID, model and brand of the device, screen size, language, location, and data on the other installed apps e.g. Facebook.

Removed

It has been reported that, since the researchers alerted Google to the presence and nature of the apps in December, they have now been removed from Google Play.

Not The First Time

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that fake apps have been found in the Google Play Store. Last November, a fake version of WhatsApp, the free, cross-platform instant messaging service for smartphones, was downloaded from the Google Play store by more than one million unsuspecting people before it was discovered to be fake.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

What is a little shocking about this story is that Google Play is a trusted source for apps, and it is particularly ironic that in this case that users could have downloaded the apps as a security measure to protect them, only to find that they did the opposite.

Although the obvious advice is to always check what you are downloading and the source of the download, the difference between fake apps and real apps can be subtle, and even Google (in this case) didn’t spot the hidden aspects of the apps.

The fact that many of us now store most of our personal lives on our smartphones makes reports such as these all the more alarming. It also undermines our confidence in (and causes potentially costly damage to) the brands that are associated with such incidents e.g. the reputation of Google Play Store.

To minimise the risk of falling victim to damage caused by fake apps, users should check the publisher of an app, check which permissions the app requests when you install it, delete apps from your phone that you no longer use, and contact your phone’s service provider or visit the High Street store if you think you’ve downloaded a malicious / suspect app.
It may also be time for Google Play Store to review its systems and procedures for checking the apps that it offers.

Cloud Companies The Next Big Target For Ransomware

Posted on by Rob Burdett

The latest Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Review has predicted that ransomware targeting cloud services will be one of the biggest cyber-crime threats of this year.

What Is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a form of malware that typically encrypts important files on the victim’s computer. The victim is then given a ransom demand, the payment of which should mean that the encrypted files can be released. In reality, some types of ransomware delete many important files anyway, and paying the ransom does not guarantee that any files will be released.

Huge Data Sources

One of the main reasons why the MIT puts the ransomware aimed at cloud services in the top 6 cyber threats for 2018 is because attacking a single cloud services company can give criminals access to huge amounts of data being stored and handled for multiple companies and organisations.

The MIT predictions, however, point to smaller, more vulnerable cloud providers who are more likely to pay as being a more likely target than the apparently well-protected larger CSPs such as Google, Amazon, and IBM.

Other Big Threats For 2018

Other MIT predictions for more common cyber-crime in 2018 include the targeting of electrical grids, transportation systems and other types of national critical infrastructure, cyber-physical attacks to cause disruption and extort money, and the targeting of old systems in transport modes (planes, trains and ships).

Also, another prediction for increased activity is the hijacking of more computing to mine crypto-currencies, and the resulting (potentially devastating) collateral damage if computing resources at hospitals, airports and other similar locations are targeted.

Evolution of Crime and Protection

The last 3 years have seen a rapid evolution of the threat of things like ransomware. 2016 was a huge year for ransomware attacks globally. For example, Kaspersky Labs estimated that in the 3rd quarter of 2016 a ransomware infection occurred every 30 seconds. Intel Security also reported that infections rose by more than a quarter in the first 3 months of the year.

The massive WannaCry ransomware attack of spring 2017 infected the computers of an estimated 300,000 victims in 150 countries worldwide, many of them large, well-known businesses and organisations (including 16 health service organisations in the UK), and has been a massive Internet and data security wake-up call.

Last year also saw AI used by both attackers and defenders, and MIT predicts that 2018 will see greater machine learning models, neural networks and other AI technologies used on a more regular basis by cyber attackers.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Cyber attackers are becoming ever-more sophisticated in their attack methods, using the latest technologies, multi-layered attacks, and the use of social engineering. Ransomware is a popular tool because it is often relatively cheap to create and use, it can spread easily (like WannaCry), the attackers can remain anonymous, and it yields the main motivation for many attacks – financial gain. It stands to reason that CSPs would make an ideal target because of the huge amount of data from many companies that is stored with them.

For individual UK businesses and other organisations, it’s a case of always being on the lookout for suspicious emails and updates, keeping security software up to date and regularly backing up critical data. With GDPR due to come into force in May, there is an even greater motivation to pay attention to data and Internet security, and there is a danger and false economy of staying with old operating systems as long as possible.

In order to provide maximum protection against prevalent and varied threats this coming year, businesses should adopt multi-layered security solutions. Businesses should accept that there is a real likelihood that they will be targeted and therefore prepare for this by implementing the most up to date security solutions, virtual patching and education of employees in order to mitigate risks from as many angles (‘vectors’) as possible.

Having workable and well-communicated Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans in place is now also an important requirement.

Are Screens Causing Short-Sightedness In Young People?

Posted on by Rob Burdett

With increasing levels of short-sightedness among young people, some experts have concluded that a young life spent looking at small screens rather than in the great outdoors could be one explanation.

90% Myopic

Studies in East Asia, have shown that a staggering 90% of 18-year-olds, a group that would normally be associated with relatively good eyesight, are suffering from short-sightedness, also known as Myopia.

Also, in Western Europe, studies have shown a rise from 20% to 30% of young (mid-20s) adults being short-sighted to levels of 40% to 50% today.

Natural Sunlight A Key Preventative Factor

Spending too much time in places / situations where there is a lack of natural daylight / direct sunlight is believed by eye experts to be a contributing factor to the development of conditions such as myopia / short-sightedness. This is one of the reasons why experts are focusing (no pun intended) on children’s use of computers, smartphones or tablet computers e.g. to study at home, may go some way to explain the rise in Myopia in young people in recent years.

This has also led some experts to compare the surprisingly high levels of Myopia in East Asian countries with the existence of intensive educational approaches involving technology e.g. very intensive education, spent indoors, out of direct sunlight, studying information close up on computerised devices.

Time Outdoors Is The Key

2008 Research from Sydney Australia, the Sydney Myopia Study (SMS), a population-based study of school-aged children in Sydney, Australia showed that Time spent outdoors was strongly and inversely related to myopia levels. The Sydney-based research showed that only 3% of Chinese-heritage children living in Sydney (who spent two hours a day outdoors) were short-sighted by the age of six. This compared to nearly 30% of six-year-olds in Singapore, and helped to add fuel to the growing body of research and supporters of the idea that the risk of myopia development can be seriously reduced by simply spending more time outdoors e.g. spending two hours per day outdoors, perhaps pursuing sport and leisure activities.

Symptoms of Myopia

Some common symptoms of Myopia to look out for in children include needing to sit near the front of the class to read the board, sitting too close to the television, regular rubbing of the eyes, and suffering from headaches or tired eyes.

Other Ways To Help

Experts suggest that other broad ways to help reduce the chances of children developing Myopia include having a healthy diet, particularly one that includes omega-3 essential fatty acids, and vitamins A, C and E and nutrients, which contribute to the good health of the back of the eye. Also, over-the-counter supplements e.g. those claiming to help brain function and health are good for the eyes too.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

For businesses where staff use devices for work for many hours of the day, providing information about the risks of looking too long and too intensely at screens could be helpful, as could arranging for some breaks / activities to be spent outdoors in the natural light e.g. perhaps in a team situation / environment and / or with incentives to improve participation.

As parents will know, once a child / young person is used to using their iPad, tablet, it is likely to be very difficult (and potentially damaging to their current social life) to remove it / ban it / reduce its use. Again, informing them of the dangers on a regular basis is important, and / or encouraging and arranging regular outdoor activities e.g. sports clubs or family pursuits / outings may be a good option.

The requirement that young people are proficient at using computerised devices to connect with their peer group and compete effectively with others at school, college, university and work means that the amount of time spent on computerised devices indoors, and consequently the high levels of Myopia development are unlikely to decline soon.

Tech Tip – Currency Converter In The Calculator

Posted on by Rob Burdett

If you haven’t already spotted it, the Windows 10 Fall Creators update from last year means that a helpful currency converter is built into the calculator on a Windows 10 PC.

The calculator also now includes converters for time, power, and temperature, so you can easily and quickly convert e.g. from Fahrenheit to Celsius and back again. To use it:

  • Open the Calculator.
  • Click on the menu button on the left.
  • Select what you’d like to convert.

iPhone Deliberate Slowdown: Apple Apology

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Tech giant Apple has apologised after it confirmed that long-held customer suspicions that it deliberately slowed down older iPhone models to encourage an upgrade turned to be true.

What Happened?

Some customers had been sharing their concerns online for some time that their iPhone’s performance had slowed with age but had sped up after a battery replacement. This led to a customer sharing comparative performance tests of different models of the iPhone 6S on Reddit, which appeared to support the customer suspicions.

Technology website Geeknebench also shared the results of its own tests of several iPhones running different versions of the iOS operating system where some showed slower performance than others.

After customers concerns mounted and received more press, Apple publicly admitted that it had made changes about a year ago in the iOS 10.2.1 software update that is likely to have been responsible for the slowdown that customers may have experienced in iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE.

Motivation Good

Some reports of customer suspicions, comments and speculation had focused on the idea that Apple’s motivation for causing the iPhone slowdown was purely commercial as part of a built-in obsolescence and motivated by profit. Apple, however, has pointed out that its motivations were based on a desire to prolong the life of customer devices by managing their ageing lithium-ion batteries, and to prevent the inconvenience of a sudden and unexpected shutdown.

The Problem With Lithium-Ion Batteries

According to Apple, Lithium-ion batteries need to be managed because they are incapable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, when they have a low battery charge or as they age. The discharging cycle of Lithium-ion batteries (the migration of lithium ions through the material forming the battery) means that they are known to degrade over time.

Regaining Trust

Apple’s admission that it has been slowing down some phones with ageing batteries, and its acknowledgement that customer trust may have been shaken by the episode have led to Apple announcing 3 measures to address customer concerns and regain trust, which are:

  1. A reduction, from December 2017, in the price of out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements by $50 from $79 to $29 for customers with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced. N.B. the $29 battery out-of-warranty replacements have been available since 30th December.
  2. An iOS software update, in early 2018, to allow customers to see how their iPhone’s battery is affecting performance.
  3. A pledge that Apple is working on ways to improve how they manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

Legal Action

The announcement that Apple does slow down older phones has, of course, led to legal action being taken against the company by disgruntled customers. For example, Apple has been hit by a class action lawsuit, led by Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, which cites “Breach of implied contract” and “Trespass to chattel” as the two complaints. More lawsuits are expected to follow.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The idea that Apple may have chosen to keep quiet about something that could be viewed (without an explanation) as secretly taking away performance that somebody has paid for, and only appearing to explain it when challenged by enough customers and tech commentators is likely to have caused some damage to the brand and to customer loyalty.

Some commentators have suggested that greater transparency and an early explanation of the apparently legitimate reasons (helping to mitigate the problem of the diminishing battery) for Apple’s actions may have been a better approach.

Apple is renowned for being able to engender fan-like behaviour in some customers, and for being able to maintain a good a loyal relationship with its customers. This story illustrates how managing customer relationships in an age where information is shared quickly and widely by customers via the Internet involves making smart decisions about transparency and being seen to be up-front with loyal customers.

Lie Detector App

Posted on by Rob Burdett

A UK company has developed a lie-detecting app that could be used interviews or other situations where high levels of honesty in (initially) completing forms is required.

Video Combined With Analytics

The London based company, called ‘Human’, founded by Yi Xu, a former investment banker and investment news TV presenter, has a team that includes a data scientist, a micro-expression coder and a psychologist. The company has developed a system that uses video from a mobile device (or CCTV camera) combined with analytics software that can examine a person’s face and thereby determine the most likely emotions being felt at that instant.

The company says that it is able to humanise technology to decipher emotion and characteristics and predict human behaviour. The machine learning aspect of the system is also thought to deliver a better and more accurate understanding of a human’s feelings, emotions, characteristics and personality, with minimum human bias.

How?

The system is able to use a phone video (for example) to capture 172,000 tiny points of an individual’s face, and to use those to read subliminal facial expressions live, and to convert them into a range of deeper emotions and specific characteristic traits in real time.

Why?

The obvious application is a kind of commercial lie-detection system and as a way of getting more from a person’s responses than what is actually said or written by them. The idea is that a person’s reactions to various questions could be more useful than what their answers are, particularly where understanding strengths, weaknesses, and true motivations are concerned. In short, the ‘Human’ system could help companies / organisations with anything from hiring staff to fraud detection to customer satisfaction analysis, and the technology can profile potential customers based on their personality, as analyzed by A.I.

According to ‘Human’, an app of this kind could have real-world applications in:

  • Recruiting and employee retention – finding out about a candidate’s personality, screening candidates by emotional intelligence, and increasing diversity with minimum human bias.
  • Financial fraud detection – insurance claims and loan applications fraud based on subliminal behaviour.
    Customer satisfaction analysis – getting beyond any financial motivation to customer engagement and getting a better understanding of customer experiences.
  • Sales prediction – profiling customer characteristics and behaviour by personality, and predicting purchase behaviour.
  • Security detection – although facial recognition in crowds is already being used, the ‘Human’ system could identify a face in a crowd and detect concerned emotions.
  • Professional sports intelligence – detecting potential players’ characteristics and personality and predicting mental and emotional status before games.
  • Dating EQ – quantify dating partner’s emotional intelligence, and profiling characteristics and personality with empathy level.

Not Just ‘Human’

The ‘Human’ company is not the only company working on new kinds of combined technologies focused on learning more about people. For Example:

  • Utah-based company, Converus, has a product called EyeDetect, which monitors pupil dilation in the human eye to detect truths and lies. The system boasts 86% accuracy – better than a human expert.
  • Researchers at the U.S. National Center for Border Security and Immigration at the University of Arizona and the U.S.
  • The Department of Homeland Security are testing Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-Time (AVATAR) which is a kiosk based system where a virtual agent asks security questions, then alerts human agents when the kiosk detects lying.
  • Back in July 2016, Toronto startup NuraLogix developed their Transdermal Optical Imaging app software which is able to read different blood flow patterns in the face to reveal different human emotions and thereby detect truth or lies.

AI -The Big Difference

The addition of AI into the technology mix is the element that could help these kinds of technologies to rapidly increase in capabilities and in real-world value e.g. lie detection connected to AI smart glasses or to a video-conferencing system, that can enable detection to take place without anyone but the user knowing about it.

Consent Issues

Capturingand using footage is however likely to present some potential issues based around consent e.g. with GDPR, as well as issues about how responsibly and legally they could be used and monitored in a commercial setting, not to mention issues around privacy and security (storage of profiling results and data used in the systems).

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

So much of the workings of business and the many relationships with all stakeholders is based around contracts (verbal and written), conversations and behaviour that have to rely upon a large element of trust and judgement, without having access to the full picture of true emotions, motivations, personalities, and likely outcomes. These new technologies, supercharged by AI could add value to many different areas of business that are based around decision-making and screening. The result of being able to use them in an affordable and convenient format e.g. apps and easy-to-operate systems, could deliver new insights that could translate into significant competitive advantages.

Amazon Accused In Birkenstock Misspelling Advert Row

Posted on by Rob Burdett

German sandal maker Birkenstock has successfully brought an injunction against Amazon to prevent internet shoppers from being directed to the online marketplace with anything other than the correct spelling of the sandal brand name.

Why?

The reported motivation for the legal move by Birkenstock is to prevent unsuspecting shoppers from buying low-quality counterfeits through Amazon that would erode Birkenstock’s reputation.

The sandal company argued in a district court in Dusseldorf that Amazon booked variations of “Birkenstock” as keywords through Google AdWords, thereby potentially contributing to customers ending up with counterfeit versions of the sandals as a result of typing e.g. “Brikenstock”, “Birkenstok”, “Bierkenstock” or other variations into their Google searches for the product.

Ongoing

This move by Birkenstock appears to be part of an ongoing dispute with Amazon. A year ago, Birkenstock stopped dealing with Amazon in the United States, and has now said that it will end the sale of its products through Amazon in Europe after Amazon “failed to proactively prevent” the sale of counterfeit Birkenstock goods.

Misspelling Adverts Commonplace

One interesting aspect of this case is the fact that if the court’s final ruling (it’s still at a preliminary stage) goes in favour of the Birkenstock, this could have implications for all companies using the common practice of targeting PPC adverts at misspellings of brand / product names.

For example, in one widely publicised example from back in April 2013, confectionary brand Snickers based an online advertising campaign around misspellings of its brand name. The company worked with a London agency to build a list of the top 500 search terms, and by using an algorithm were able to generate a list of 25,381 different misspellings. The three-day campaign generated 558,589 ad impressions on those misspellings, and served as an example for what has now become a very widely used PPC tactic.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This case raises some interesting issues for online business advertising. Obviously, businesses would like to protect themselves from the actions of counterfeiters and those trying to circumvent trademark law and pass off fake goods as popular brands. In this case, however, some commentators have pointed out that Amazon’s role does not appear to be a parallel form of digital deception, and that the mainstream practice of targeting ads to misspelled search terms can actually help shoppers find what they’re looking for more easily.

Also, some commentators have made the point that counterfeit products sold on Amazon are unlikely to be using misspellings in their online or physical branding, but are more likely to simply be superficially exact copies that are listed as the real thing in Amazon’s network of third-party sellers. If, in this scenario, Amazon used misspellings to advertise Birkenstocks to shoppers, and those shoppers bought counterfeit products as a result, the problem is would be more likely to be Amazon’s supply-chain structure than its search tactics.

If the German court’s final ruling goes in favour of Birkenstock, it could have much wider effects for online advertisers, and may not be to the benefit of web users.

Extremism Tax

Posted on by Rob Burdett

UK Minister of State for Security, Ben Wallace, has said that Britain may impose new taxes on tech giants like Google and Facebook unless they do more to combat online extremism by taking down any material aimed at radicalizing people or helping them to prepare terror attacks.

Lack Of Co-operation

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Security Secretary Wallace is reported as saying that tech giants appear to have been “less than co-operative”, and are placing too much of the responsibility and cost for tackling extremist material and influence on the UK government (i.e. the taxpayer).

Mr Wallace is reported as saying that although the tech firms appear to be happy to sell people’s data, they seem less happy to give that data to the UK government, thereby forcing it to spend large amounts of money on de-radicalisation programs, surveillance and other counter-terrorism measures.

Tax Threat

Mr Wallace is reported as saying in his interview with the Sunday Times that the government was prepared to look at things like tax as a way of incentivising or compensating the tech giants for their “inaction”.

Vulnerable

Mr Wallace made the point that the UK is “more vulnerable than at any point in the last 100 years.” He highlighted how social media and encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp may be making things easier for attackers, and how taking down online extremist more quickly than is currently happening could save the millions of pounds that are being spent on de-radicalising people (who have been radicalised) rather than preventing radicalisation in the first place.

Echoes of Amber Rudd

Mr Wallace’s reported comments appear to echo many of those of interior minister Amber Rudd, who, just weeks after the second bridge attack, headed a very public campaign to stop the complete end-to-end encryption model used by some social media platforms, and allow ‘back doors’ to be built-in to such systems to allow the government to access them in the name of intercepting communications by extremists / terrorists. Critics have pointed out that a building in back doors would make the platforms vulnerable to hackers.

Stereotyping

Mr Wallace’s reported comments also included a description of tech company staff that appeared to stereotype them as people who “sit on beanbags in T-shirts”. He was quick to create a contrast between this more passive perceived public image, and his perceived reality that the tech giants are in fact “ruthless profiteers” who will “sell our details to loans and soft-porn companies”.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This appears to be another effort by the government to put pressure on the tech giants through negative publicity, and this time through threats of new taxation, to highlight what the government sees as their responsibility in playing a role in reducing the terror threat from extremists. Businesses and individuals are obviously likely to be unanimous in their wish for increased national security, the reduction of a terror threat, and in closing avenues which lead to radicalisation and recruitment for extremist / terror activities.

There are, however, other influences and points of view at play here, including the powerful commercial interests and profits of the ‘tech giants’, the need to be seen to resist any forms of censorship and outside interference, and the need to be seen to protect users’ privacy and trust, diplomatic and trade interests and relationships e.g. with the U.S where the tech giants are mainly based, personal data and security implications (with stopping end-to-end encryption), and the influence of freedom and rights campaigners.

The comments of Mr Wallace are likely to be followed by many more from the government in the near future as they attempt to exert some influence over many wealthy, overseas-based but very popular tech companies that play such an important part in the daily lives of many UK citizens.

Justice Too Slow With Data Requests Says ICO

Posted on by Rob Burdett

The UK’s Secretary of State for Justice has been hit with an Enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner’s Office over backlogs and poor handling of requests for personal records made under data protection laws.

Subject Access Requests

In the UK, under the Data Protection Act 1998, anyone can make a request to any organisation (termed the ‘data controllers’) for copies of both paper and computer records and related information that the organisation is holding, using, or sharing about them. This is known as a ‘subject access request’ (SAR), and organisations usually charge a fee for providing the information e.g. up to £10 in normal circumstances. Under the DPA, organisations are required to answer data access requests within 40 days

The Backlog

The issuing of the Enforcement Notice by the ICO to the UK Ministry of Justice (technically the ‘data controllers in this case) on 21st December 2017 relates to the fact that ICO has received a large number requests for assessment by people whose subject access requests had not been dealt with quickly enough by the Ministry of Justice.

The Enforcement Notice highlighted the fact that there is a backlog of 919 SARs from individuals, some of which dated back to 2012.

Two Main Problems Highlighted

The two main problems highlighted by the Notice are that that the Justice Secretary (data controller) has contravened section 7 of the Data Protection Act for failing to act “without undue delay” and that the “data controller’s internal systems, procedures and policies for dealing with subject access requests made under the DPA were unlikely to achieve compliance with the provisions of the DPA”.

Plan To Clear Backlog

The ICO Enforcement Notice did, however, acknowledge that the Ministry of Justice has given the ICO a recovery plan which shows that it intends to clear the backlog by October 2018, and answer new requests without “undue delay” from January 2018.

According to the update and plan published in the Enforcement Notice, the Ministry of Justice believes that it has 793 requests that are over 40 days old, and that it planned to deal with 14 cases from 2O14 by 31 December 2017, 161 cases received from 2015 by 30 April 2018, 357 cases from 2016 by 31 August 2018, and 261 cases from 2O17 by 31 October 2018.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This is an embarrassment for the Ministry of Justice, and may be an indication of a wider problem faced by many businesses and organisations in the UK that are still not getting to grips with their responsibilities under the current Data Protection Act, let alone getting prepared for the introduction of the UK’s Data Protection Bill, and the EU’s GDPR will come into force on 25th May 2018.

Under GDPR for example, businesses and organisations will have to deal with requests even more quickly, may have to provide additional information, and won’t be able to charge a fee for complying with requests. There will also be the challenges of responding to an individual’s ‘right to be forgotten’, and the prospect of much greater penalties greater penalties for non-compliance than under the current Data Protection Act.

This story is a reminder that all businesses and organisations should take the opportunity now to ensure that their data practices are in order and likely to be compliant with GDPR, and also to consider that being GDPR compliant could actually provide commercial advantages as this will become a serious factor for consideration in trading relationships and alliances.