Naked Law

Digital Britain - will it guarantee access?

The Government proposes to tax fixed phone lines for broadband roll out.  The big question remains for those with "theoretical" broadband access -- the ones who have it but at much less than the advertised rate, or intermittently, or both -- whether there will be a commitment to ensure that there is recourse for such consumers.  Despite the lack of concern from OFCOM about the poor service given by many broadband providers because apparently few complain, there are many out there who are simply resigned to a service which is below the advertised speeds.

Human right to internet access?

Yesterday I went to the CUTEC conference here in Cambridge which provided a forum for encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the major themes this year was around social responsibility and empowering individuals - big aims for a room of techies and ambitious PhD students.

In particular cloud computing was very much viewed as the way forward and the democratisation of information and accessibility to services - resulting, for example, in the wife of one panelist being able to get real time advice on breast feeding at 4am from other mothers via her iPhone.

In this context I was interested to see that the French courts have refused to uphold a new law allowing officials to cut off the internet connection of persistent online infringers. The Constitutional Court held that only a court could do that - on the basis that access to online services is a human right.

That's the first time I've heard of internet access being referred to as a human right, and I question whether an English court would reach the same view - and clearly on one level it's not in the same league as the rights to life, to freedom of thought and religious beliefs.

But there were many inspirational (as well as aspirational) stories at the CUTEC conference about precisely this issue - that internet and mobile technologies do change lives and communities; that widespread access to and democratisation of services could be the catalyst for social change and improvement in developing nations.

I suspect there's a fundamental tension here between the increasing attempts to regulate the online world (with admitedly varying degrees of success) and the desire to fully exploit its potential and enable people all over the world participate in the online revolution.

One Tough Cookie?

When you visit a website, more often than not, a small text file called a "cookie" is sent to your computer.  Now, what possible use is a cookie without a glass of milk, this Naked Lawyer asks?

 

Well, the purpose of a cookie is to store data.  For example, if you log onto a website and give details such as your name and e-mail address, the cookie will maintain your log-in details so that you do not have to log back in the next time you visit the site.  A shrewd advertising tactic? Yes. An invasion of privacy?  Potentially.

 

Cookies are currently regulated by the 2002 European Communities Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications.  Under the Directive, provided website users are given “clear and comprehensive information” about the purposes of cookies and are given the opportunity to refuse to have cookies stored on their equipment, cookies can be used for activities such as advertising, analysing website effectiveness and identifying online purchasers.  Currently website owners comply with this requirement by putting information about cookies in a privacy policy and then adding a link to the policy to every page of their website.

 

Now proposed amendments to the law on cookies suggests that users may have to give prior consent in order to allow cookies.  (This is subject to an exemption if the cookies are “strictly necessary” i.e. they enable a specific service explicitly requested by the user.)  At this stage it is completely unclear what prior consent under the new proposals will mean in practical terms.  A website owner could perhaps consider the following pop-up message on entry to their site: "click here for a cookie (non chocolate chip variety)".  However, a pop-up message is arguably very cumbersome and not least rather off-putting to passing website traffic.  This Naked Lawyer awaits the developments...

Plan-it Law

You might be forgiven for thinking that the Naked Law team had drifted into a sun-induced torpor for the last few weeks, what with the scarcity of posts and the welcome arrival of summer.  Not true!  We've just been busy, partly with the inevitable rush of year-end work - but partly also working with our colleagues on their nascent planning blog "Plan-it Law".

For those familiar with Naked Law over the past few years, the layout of the blog will be familiar - though the subject matter entirely different.  We are now a two blog family.  For those with an interest in legal blogging generally, please take a look at Plan-it Law and leave us a comment letting us know what you think.

Also - watch this space for a number of impending Naked Law posts about more traditional tech-law issues ...