Civil liberties campaigners criticised several anti-terrorism laws introduced by the last Labour Government as being restrictive of individual freedoms. The current Conservative and Liberal Democrat coaltion Government will review those laws, claiming its aim is to restore some lost rights.

"The review will look at what counter-terrorism powers and measures could be rolled back in order to restore the balance of civil liberties and counter-terrorism powers," said a Home Office statement on the review.

"National security is the first duty of government but we are also committed to reversing the substantial erosion of civil liberties," said Home Secretary Theresa May. "I want a counter-terrorism regime that is proportionate, focused and transparent. We must ensure that in protecting public safety, the powers which we need to deal with terrorism are in keeping with Britain’s traditions of freedom and fairness."

RIPA powers to monitor citizens' activities could be used not just by police and state security services but also by local authorities to monitor compliance with various laws. Civil liberties campaigners criticised the use of RIPA to monitor residents' compliance with dog fouling or refuse recycling laws.

Security minister Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones told ZDNet UK last week that some local authority uses of RIPA were not acceptable.

"We will reduce the powers of local authorities," she said. "It's a question of how many bodies have powers and what powers they have. We want to create a situation which is less intrusive on the part of local authorities into the lives of ordinary citizens."

The Government review could also examine existing rules that force telecoms companies and ISPs to store records of individuals’ use of their systems on behalf of the authorities.

The Home Office said that its review would examine "the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) by local authorities, and access to communications data more generally".

The review will be overseen by Liberal Democrat peer and former director of public prosecutions Lord Ken Macdonald.

"We will look at the evidence presented to us and where it is clear that legislation needs to be amended or powers need to be rolled back, we will do," said May.

The ICO is responsible for ensuring that organizations keep in line with the privacy protecting laws the Data Protection Act and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) as well as transparency law the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

The ICO's annual report has revealed that data protection enquiries jumped by 30% in 2009/2010 compared to 2008/2009. The ICO received 33,324 enquiries, it said, including many 'subject access requests', which allow a person to view records held about them.

"The increase in complaints to the ICO is a cause for concern," the report said. "Subject Access Requests are the main reason for complaining to the Information Commissioner, the same as last year. The rights of individuals to access personal data accounted for over 28% of complaints where the reason was specified."

"People were also worried about the disclosure of data and the accuracy of information being retained," it said.

The number of complaints about public authorities failing to abide by their FOI obligations to release data also rose, by 20%, to 3,734.

"We continue to close cases without the need for formal decision notices, many through effective negotiation and discussion with public authorities to ensure that information is released when it is appropriate to do so," said the annual report. "We closed more than half our cases by informal resolution."

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said in his foreword to the report that he was committed to continuing to campaign for jail sentences for people convicted of buying and selling personal information.

"I shall continue to press for a more effective deterrent to criminal behaviour by 'rogue' individuals," said Graham. "I continue to believe that the courts should be able to impose a custodial sentence, where appropriate, to tackle the unlawful trade in personal data that is the scourge of the digital world. Data theft is no victimless crime."

Graham also reiterated his view that the ICO should be funded more transparently and should report directly to Parliament, rather than to a Government department, as is currently the case.

"To carry out my duties effectively and with the full confidence of all parties, now is the time to formalise the governance arrangements for the Information Commissioner; suitable for an independent public official whose accountability is fully to Parliament rather than primarily via Departments of State," he said.

"I believe my predecessors and I have demonstrated the real independence of the Information Commissioner; but, with five years' experience of operating the Freedom of Information Act, I believe that the ICO has not just to be independent of government, but be seen to be independent in its reporting and financing arrangements," said Graham.
http://out-law.com/page-11226

Reding told a meeting of the EU's data protection commissioners that EU law on data protection was too fragmented.

"One of the main concerns expressed by businesses in the recent consultations is the lack of harmonisation and the divergences of national measures and practices implementing our 1995 [Data Protection] Directive," said Reding. "It is therefore clear that we need to provide further harmonisation and approximation of data protection rules at EU level."

Reding was addressing the Article 29 Working Party, a committee comprising the data protection watchdogs from the EU's member countries. She told the officials that current data protection law was not doing its job properly.

"The internal market requires not only that personal data can flow freely from one Member State to another, but also that the fundamental rights of individuals are safeguarded," she said. "Provided that all data protection guarantees are in place and properly applied, personal data should freely circulate within the EU and, where necessary and appropriate, be transferred to third countries. This requires us to provide a level playing field for all economic operators in different Member States. This is currently not the case."

Reding outlined a number of changes to EU data protection law that she said were necessary. As more and more people use increasingly data-intensive online services, she said that their privacy needed to be better protected.

" I believe we need to strengthen individuals' rights by ensuring that they enjoy a high level of protection and maintain control over their data. This is particularly important in the on-line environment, where often privacy policies are unclear, non-transparent and not always in full compliance with existing rules," she said.

"Individuals need to be well and clearly informed, in a transparent way, by data controllers – be it services providers, search engines or others – about how and by whom their data are collected and processed," said Reding. "They need to know what their rights are if they want to access, rectify or delete their data. And they should be able to actually exercise these rights without excessive constraints."

Reding said that the administrative burden on companies could be reduced by changing certain procedures, but that this could only happen if businesses took their data protection responsibilities more seriously.

"Businesses and public authorities, however will need to better assume their responsibilities by putting in place certain mechanisms such as the appointment of Data Protection Officers, the carrying out of Privacy Impact Assessments and applying a 'Privacy by Design' approach," she said.

Reding said that EU countries needed to do more to share data when dealing with criminal matters, and that individual countries and the EU needed to share more data internationally.

"I intend to improve, strengthen and streamline the current procedures for international data transfers, including in the areas of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters," she said.

"In some cases the conclusion of international agreements – like the one we are about to negotiate with the US on data protection in judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters – can also be an effective tool to enhance cooperation and allow for an exchange of information with the relevant authorities," she said.

Reding told a meeting in Washington this week that she wanted to create an 'umbrella' data protection agreement with the US under which greater volumes of personal data could be shared but still protected to a standard acceptable in the EU.

"This agreement will establish a legal framework for data protection, but it will not constitute in itself the legal basis for specific transfers of personal data," she told the Article 29 Working Party. "A transfer of personal data will continue to require a specific agreement providing the legal basis for it."

"My intention is to be ambitious and negotiate a good agreement with the US, ensuring a high-level of data protection and providing all necessary guarantees and mechanisms for effective enforcement and compliance," she said.

From Outlaw: http://out-law.com/page-11228

The Getting Involved presentation (pdf) gives you an idea of what we were talking about.

Conversation among participants was lively, especially around policies and realities of social networking.

Our partners in the Ministry of Justice told us about their current call for evidence on data protection, as this is under review in the EU and they want to make sure that the UK's voice is heard. More on this on Out-Law news

European Youth and Social Media is a Youth Exchange Project working with 50 young people and leaders from Germany, Ireland, Estonia and the UK.

The project and all participants will be based in Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland for the 8 day duration of the project. Participants will arrive on the 23^rdJuly and depart on the 30^th July 2010.

About the project

The project focuses on getting young people involved in influencing policy around internet governance. The exchange will consist of a mixture of educational workshops, outdoor education and a plenary session incorporating the involvement of political representatives.

The young people from across Europe will participate in a number of media/journalistic workshops to capture thoughts and opinions on internet issues such as:

• file sharing,
• identity theft, and
• cyberbullying

Throughout the event young people will keep an audio and video record to allow them to create podcasts and videos to highlight the issues they have discussed.

Why hold the workshop?

The HUWY project has identified that young people from the participating countries are active internet users who are interested in:

• the future development of the Internet, and
• how they can possibly influence those developments.

The week long event will allow young people interested in these issues to discuss the issues with other interested young people from around Europe.

We are extremely lucky to have the young people from Jugendpresse present throughout the week long event. Jugendpresse will have a significant role, acting as peer facilitators during the workshop, to instruct other participants in the media/journalism skills and effectively facilitate the workshops.

More information

For more information about the European Youth and Social Media event contact Feargal O'Kane at Queen's University Belfast – f.okane@qub.ac.uk.

We want to know about your ideas of successful engagement and participation processes –i.e. projects that aim to get people’s opinions/ help people to influence decisions/consult people.

To find this out, we've created 3 questionnaires -one for young people, one for youth workers and one for policy-makers.

It would be really great if you could follow the links below and fill in these short questionnaires (Easy: 8 questions, multiple choice)

• Young people
• Youth workers
• Policy-makers
• More about the HUWY project

Young people

This questionnaire is to help us find out about the kind of things that happen in engagement projects which would make you feel that the project was a success and that your involvement achieved something. We want to find out what is more or less important to you.

After our current engagement project (HUWY) has been running for a bit, we can then use this information to decide if it’s successful on your terms.

Questionnaire for young people >>

Youth workers

We want to know about your ideas of successful engagement and participation processes –i.e. projects that aim to get people’s opinions/ help people influence decisions/consult people. It is likely that you have worked with young people on many similar projects and listened to their reactions afterwards and this is the information that we are looking for.

This questionnaire is to help us find out about the kind of things that happen in engagement projects which (in your experience) would make young people say that the project was a success and that their involvement achieved something. We want to find out what is more or less important to young people in this context.

After our current engagement project (HUWY) has been running for a bit, we can then use this information to decide if it’s successful on young people’s terms.

Questionnaire for youth workers >>

Policy-makers

We want to know about your ideas of successful engagement and participation processes –i.e. projects that aim to get people’s opinions/ help people influence decisions/consult people. We are particularly concerned with processes which aim to get input from young people.

This questionnaire is to help us find out about the kind of things that happen in engagement projects which (in your experience) would make policy-makers feel that the project was a success and that their involvement achieved something. We want to find out what is more or less important to you in this context.

After the HUWY project has been running for a bit, we can then use this list to decide if it’s successful on both policy-makers’ and young people’s terms.

Questionnaire for policy-makers >>

More about the HUWY project

HUWY believe that young people are valuable expert stakeholders in current Internet issues like

• cyberbullying, child abuse and child safety,
• freedom of speech and censorship,
• privacy and phishing, security, identity, hacking, e-commerce,
• file-sharing and copyright.

The HUWY project aims to get young people talking about policies and laws which affect the Internet and channel their ideas to governments and parliaments, national and EU using Hub websites. HUWY wants to achieve this through a distributed discussion:

• Young people explore and discuss the themes in their own (online) spaces
• We provide interesting material to support the discussions on Hub websites
• Young people post their ideas on the Hub websites.
• We work with policy-makers to help them find ideas that are relevant to their work.
• Policy-makers use young peoples’ ideas and provide feedback by posting comments on the Hubs

Outriders is a show dedicated to finding out what's happening at the edges of the web and it was great for HUWY to be asked to explain what we're up to. You can listen to the podcast here.

Remember, if you're interested in the HUWY project or just want to find out a bit more about what we're doing then we're holding:

• a workshop in Belfast on the 29th June - full details and booking are available here: http://huwy-belfast.eventbrite.com/
• a workshop in London on the 9th July - full details and booking are available here: http://huwy-london.eventbrite.com/

• What happens to my stuff on FaceBook?
• You shouldn't be cut off for file-sharing.
• It's too easy to bully someone online.

If young people you're working with are having discussions like this then HUWY wants to hear from you. HUWY is an EU project that aims to get politicians to listen to what young people have to say about the Internet.

The short session at the Institute of Education, London will cover:

• What HUWY is
• How you can use it in your work
• What you'll need to do to participate

It will also include a free lunch and time to network and share ideas.

If you want to get involved, please register here. For more information, contact Feargal O'Kane: f.okane@qub.ac.uk (See our contacts page for more details)

Draft agenda

• 11.00 Registration
• 11.30 Introductions
• 12.00 Why get involved
• 12.30 How the site works
• 13.00 Lunch
• 13.45 Getting involved
• 14.15 Questions and hands on help
• 15.00 End

HUWY events

We had a really interesting workshop in Scotland -it was great to hear from young people (ok person) and people working with young people about what interested them in the HUWY project.

Everyone is interested in discussing HUWY topics and trying to improve our Internet lives.

For more about the HUWY project, check out

• Our factsheet for young people and facilitators page (or as a
  pdf)
• Our Policy maker fact sheet page (or as a pdf)
• and the HUWY Facilitators' Guide