Data and society

The UK’s coalition government has said it is committed to making Britain the most open administration in the world, pushing a series of open data innovations through the Open Government Partnership (OGP). On the other hand, there has been a rumble of discontent with the Freedom of Information regime, even before Tony Blair despaired that he ever introduced it. In parallel, the devolved administrations have begun to push their own FOI and open data agendas. These tensions have gathered pace since 2015 with judicial rulings, the formation of an Independent Commission on FOI and a powerful counter reaction from civil society and the media. This seminar brings together an expert panel to explore the advances, tensions and controversy and answer the question ‘where are we now with openness’?

The EU Internal Market Sub-Committee investigates the regulation of 'online platforms'

Columbia and Google Researchers Identify New Privacy Concerns for Mobility Metadata full text at http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~mani/pub/RiedererWWW2016.pdf

The most comprehensive visualization of U.S. public data. Data USA provides an open, easy-to-use platform that turns data into knowledge. New from MIT Labs

The Amsterdam Call for Action on Open Science is the key outcome of the two-day conference ‘Open Science – From Vision to Action’ organised by Dutch State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Sander Dekker as part of the Netherlands EU Presidency.

National Security Archive based at George Washington University has just launched this new specialist site to reveal and monitor the activities of the US government concerning cyberspace, This includes materials relating to computer security, hacking, monitoring, defence and cyberwarfare. Access the text of several hundred documents, many released through Freedom of Information requests. See the launch blog posting for details of key texts and rationale.

This report is the outcome of a workshop held on 24/2/16 at LSE with participants from a range of organisations including Financial Times, The Times, Reuters Institute, BBC, Storyful, The Guardian,…

Lacking an answer to the problem of radicalisation, the government has confused tactics with strategy.

The algorithms social media platforms use to personalize content on newsfeeds have been making headlines recently. In February Twitter announced that it would begin using an algorithm to filter user’s newsfeeds. Then in March, Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo and video sharing platform, stated that it too would begin using an algorithm to sort user feeds. …

Big data can reinforce human prejudices but it could also help us break away from discrimination. Useful blog post from the Conversation

Biometrics Commissioner points finger at police forces for uploading photos against the rules – and failing to retain DNA profiles when justified full text of annual review at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/biometrics-commissioner-annual-report-2014-to-2015

Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report - data on nature and extent of cybercrime

Spaces to Think examines how London’s existing universities, clusters and innovation districts are evolving and sets out recommendations on how they can be encouraged to grow.

Columbia Journalism review

‘Speak in Safety,’ a parliamentary event held on Monday evening, challenged MPs to scrutinise the highly controversial Investigatory Powers Bill, before it is rushed into law.

Inge Graef and Brendan Van Alsenoy from KU Leuven argue that the case represents the first attempt by a European competition authority to integrate data LSE Media policy blog

New feature introduced details here. https://www.whatsapp.com/security

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights see full test at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Privacy/A-HRC-31-64.doc criticises draft regulatory powers bill

Poll from Ipsos - should the dark net be shut down?

Good Practice guidelines

Ofcom's Business Connectivity Market Review examines the provision of leased lines to businesses in the UK. Leased lines are high-quality, dedicated, point-to-point data transmission services used by businesses and providers of communications services. They are essential components not only of many business information and communication technology (ICT) services, but also of mobile and residential broadband services. Every three years, Ofcom conducts a review of competition in the provision of leased lines in the UK. Where we find that a provider has 'significant market power' (SMP) we impose regulations appropriate for protecting the interests of consumers in light of the competition concerns raised. This draft statement sets out our analysis of the relevant markets, identifying markets in which a provider has SMP.

Policy recommendations that show the new Mayor can support digital growth and innovation.