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Data Grub: New Watchdog Chief Bares His Teeth

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-watchdog-chief-bares-his-teeth.html

Friday, 4 September 2009. New Watchdog Chief Bares His Teeth. So, farewell then Richard Thomas. The outgoing Information Commissioner handed over the baton to Christopher Graham last June, and the new head of the ICO has wasted little time in getting stuck into parliament, the courts and newspapers for failing to stop the flourishing trade in illegally obtained personal and confidential information. It's good to see such forthright common sense from the new Information Commissioner - it's a sign that the...

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Data Grub: November 2008

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

Thursday, 20 November 2008. In spite of our previous post about the NHS, this blog is concerned primarily with data in general, and the impact of technology on personal information in particular. There are, of course, powerful arguments both for and against presumed consent, and it’s beyond the remit of this blog either to defend or denounce Gordon’s plan. Should services that use our personal data be opt-in or opt-out? Most people would instantly and decisively declare that any Internet service which co...

datagrub1.blogspot.com

Data Grub: September 2009

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

Friday, 4 September 2009. New Watchdog Chief Bares His Teeth. So, farewell then Richard Thomas. The outgoing Information Commissioner handed over the baton to Christopher Graham last June, and the new head of the ICO has wasted little time in getting stuck into parliament, the courts and newspapers for failing to stop the flourishing trade in illegally obtained personal and confidential information. It's good to see such forthright common sense from the new Information Commissioner - it's a sign that the...

datagrub1.blogspot.com

Data Grub: June 2009

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html

Monday, 8 June 2009. Congratulations students of the globe! For anyone from the ages of 5 to 15 can enjoy Google’s new attempt at structured data search: Google Squared. And that’s presumably the only group of people that would ever consider using it. Remember when you were eight and your teacher asked you to make a pretty table on British Monarchy with all the monarchs of Britain including their children, spouses and important dates? How you pored over huge encyclopaedias to get all the information?

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Data Grub: April 2009

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Tuesday, 28 April 2009. The lady's for turning. We've taken the odd swipe at Jacqui Smith over the last few months, so it only seems fair to applaud her decision to scrap the Home Office's planned über-database of communications data. The database would have collected data on all electronic correspondence, such as the time, date and length of communication (and, of course, who contacted whom). No longer any plans, Jacqui, no longer. We couldn't possibly comment. Mobile and fixed line operators will be re...

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Data Grub: January 2009

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

Thursday, 29 January 2009. A day for quiet reflection. Yesterday was European Data Protection Day; this blog held a one day's silence as a gesture of respect to the millions of pieces of personal and sensitive data that have been lost in the last year. Across the continent people gathered in their hundreds of thousands, coming together in their workplaces, in their communities, in the fields, in the hills and in the streets, to mark this most solemn and momentous day of data. European data protection day.

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Data Grub: October 2008

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Thursday, 30 October 2008. We’re big fans of Richard Thomas here at data grub. Mr Thomas, as any fule kno, is the UK’s Information Commissioner and head of the Information Commissioner’s Office. They’re the independent regulatory office dealing with all sorts of privacy legislation like the Data Protection Act, the Freedom of Information Act and many others too numerable and mind-numbing to mention. But sometimes you do need to state the obvious, loudly and often. This is one such time. Because on Tuesda...

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Data Grub: Google fails

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-fails.html

Monday, 8 June 2009. Congratulations students of the globe! For anyone from the ages of 5 to 15 can enjoy Google’s new attempt at structured data search: Google Squared. And that’s presumably the only group of people that would ever consider using it. Remember when you were eight and your teacher asked you to make a pretty table on British Monarchy with all the monarchs of Britain including their children, spouses and important dates? How you pored over huge encyclopaedias to get all the information?

datagrub1.blogspot.com

Data Grub: February 2009

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

Thursday, 26 February 2009. Here at Data Grub we’ve so far held off from writing about ID cards, in part because this long-running saga has been so comprehensively covered in most mainstream media. But we couldn’t let the Rt Hon David Blunkett get away with Tuesday’s speech at, of all places, Essex University. Blunkett, the original panegyrist of ID cards in this country, used his speech in part to propose scrapping compulsory ID cards. Blunkett proposes that ID cards be voluntary but that biometric pass...

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Data Grub: September 2008

http://datagrub1.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

Monday, 29 September 2008. And Phorm saw that it was good…. Glad to see that this blog’s starting to have a bit of influence. Phorm has taken my advice (see previous post) and has drawn up a list of incentives for customers who opt-in to their Webwise targeted ad service. An upgrade to a faster broadband package at no extra cost. 163;1 off monthly broadband bills. 163;1 cashback per month. A cut of advertising revenues. A free premium technical support line. Free music download vouchers. For example, und...