Here are some links to media quotes, articles, and talks I gave in 2020-2021, mostly in a professional capacity for Open Rights Group (my then-employer), on the Online Safety Bill as well as on various post-Brexit UK privacy issues.
Posting this all here may seem like an ego exercise, however, I recently received this email from a follower.
It’s good to be reminded that I wasn’t on the battlefield for nothing. So if someone’s work has made that sort of impact on you, reach out to them and let them know. It’ll make their day.
Freedom of Expression / the UK Online Safety Bill
- Work blog on lobbyist proposals to mandate nationality checks on web sites in Britain under the draft Online Safety Bill https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/papers-please-nationality-checks-for-the-british-internet/
- Work blog on the politicisation of free speech under the draft Online Safety Bill https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/how-the-online-safety-bill-lets-politicians-define-free-speech/
- Politico on the draft Online Safety Bill and government powers over journalism https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-asks-who-is-journalist-define/
- Work blog on age verification under the draft Online Safety Bill https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/age-verification-in-the-online-safety-bill/
- Work blog on threats to encryption under the draft Online Safety Bill
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/encryption-in-the-online-safety-bill/ - Personal blog on what government meetings on online harms are like behind the scenes https://heatherburns.tech/2021/07/10/a-thought-experiment-on-subjectively-harmful-content-moderation/
- Aftermath of the racial abuse sent on social media to England’s Euro 2020 footballers: quotes in Sky News, ITPro, GBNews, The Times, and Politico; also the work blog
- PC Pro podcast on encryption in the Online Safety Bill
https://player.fm/series/the-pc-pro-podcast-2839211/pc-pro-podcast-550 - Work blog on compliance requirements and penalties under the OSB
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/access-denied-service-blocking-in-the-online-safety-bill/ - The House magazine on the OSB not being the One Weird Trick that Parliamentarians think it is
https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/the-online-safety-bill-wont-solve-online-abuse - TechCrunch on DCMS’s guidance to businesses ahead of the OSB advising them not to deploy e2e
https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/30/uk-tells-messaging-apps-not-to-use-e2e-encryption-for-kids-accounts/ - Politico on the OSB and Ministerial powers over free speech
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-concerns-over-internet-free-speech-tech-regulation-power-grab/ - Work blog post on an open letter to MPs on e2e
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/mps-encryption-keeps-your-constituents-safe/ - Internet Society England presentation on the technical implications of the OSB
https://isoc.live/14137/ - Work blog post on OSB and the censorship of discussions on migration
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/is-government-preparing-to-censor-discussions-about-migration/ - Politico on the OSB
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-free-speech-boris-johnson-big-tech-google-facebook-safety-online-safety-bill/ - Personal blog on the “wild west internet” trope in the OSB context https://heatherburns.tech/2021/04/20/your-cut-and-keep-guide-to-the-unregulated-wild-west-internet/
- Work blog on why senior management liability and criminal sanctions, under the OSB, are the stupidest ideas in a bill full of stupid ideas
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/online-abuse-why-management-liability-isnt-the-answer/ - Techdirt podcast with Mike Masnick on the OSB https://heatherburns.tech/2021/02/17/techdirt-podcast-intermediary-liability-law-is-not-a-social-safety-net/
- Work blog on online vs offline offences (politics by me, lawyering by David Allen Green) https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/speech-offences-whats-illegal-offline-should-be-illegal-online/
- Work blog on government’s published response to the online harms white paper https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/online-harms-freedom-of-expression-remains-under-threat/
Privacy and Surveillance
- Wired UK on the Conservatives’ plan to strip away privacy rights under the guise of reforming cookie banners https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-change-gdpr-eu-adequacy
- DailyDot article on Spotify and privacy
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/spotify-blocking-harrasment-stalking/ - Forbes quote on Spotify and privacy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2021/06/03/spotify-accused-of-letting-stalkers-hound-their-victims/ - The Ferret article on Police Scotland / Cellebrite
https://theferret.scot/reliability-of-police-mobile-phone-evidence-questioned-after-hack/ - Work blog post on e2e
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/endgame-for-end-to-end-encryption/ - Wired ICR trial story
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/internet-connection-records-ip-act - BBC News ICR trial story
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56362170 - Guardian ICR trial story
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/11/internet-providers-tracking-sites-we-visit-in-secretive-trial - Telegraph ICR trial story
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2021/03/11/snoopers-charter-surveillance-tests-way-home-office-national/ - Work blog post on anonymity
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/saveanonymity-together-we-can-defend-anonymity/
PS – the header image on this post is a spoiler!