Conference talk: WordPress’s role in a changing web + my retirement from open source
Updated May 2021.
Author: Heather Burns
Euractiv: AdequacyLOL
I’m quoted in Euractiv today on Boris Johnson’s unilateral declaration that the UK is taking its ball and going home where data protection adequacy is concerned. The article is also available in French and in German.
We’re out. What now?
As I’ve written on my side blog, https://afterbrexit.tech: With the UK now out of the European Union, it is clear beyond any doubt that Brexit is being used as a means for British policymakers to embark on an open regulatory experiment. Legislators across all parties, think tanks, and media outlets are seeking to fundamentally redraft the legal and social foundations of the open web, our access to it, and our use of it, under the […]
The Startup Manifesto
I was delighted to contribute to The Entrepreneurs Network and Coadec’s joint 2019 General Election manifesto, where we set forth our policy ideas for the next government. My contributions, as always, were around internet regulation.
Interview on privacy and WordPress with WPBuilds
In July I sat down with Nathan Wrigley from WP Builds for a chat about open source, privacy, politics, and open source privacy politics. The interview has now been published here, along with a full transcript. I couldn’t have picked a nicer person to speak with.
Because I always look impressive in blockquotes
Last week I was interviewed by Samuel Stolton at EURACTIV for his weekly Digital Brexit bulletin. We discussed where UK tech policy is currently standing as we prepare to leave the UK (whenever that is).
About that WordPress autoupdates thing.
There was a call for comments ahead of this weekend’s scheduled panel discussion at WCUS on the autoupdates plan. I’ve been asked to respond to it from my perspective, so I will.
The Online Harms framework just got a lot darker
Something distressing happened this week in the Commons chamber, and the Prime Minister wasn’t even there.
A Smashing talk and my big announcement
This month I was honoured to speak at Smashing Conference Freiburg in Germany, where I closed out the event with a talk about developing privacy-conscious projects. You can view the slides here, and the video is here.
What you need to know about a No Deal Brexit
I didn’t think we’d be here, but here we are. In my capacity as a Policy Fellow at COADEC, the tech policy body for the UK’s tech startups, I have written a plain-English guide for tech and digital businesses to use to prepare for a No Deal Brexit. While the guidance is aimed at startups and scaleups, the advice is applicable to all tech businesses regardless of where they are on their journey.
So You’re Acquiring a Privacy-Invasive Social Network!
In the midst of the buzz about Automattic acquiring Tumblr, some of us took pains to point out that we literally can't see anything on Tumblr blogs, nor would we want to - not at the cost of playing Verizon/Oath's privacy head games.
The missing pieces: teaching the legal side of web development
We are creating architects who have never heard of building codes, drivers who have never heard of the Highway Code, and doctors who have never heard of the Hippocratic oath.