Policy Observatory

Up to a billion people using the internet in developing countries are ignored by web statistics, which focus on US-based servers and ignore mobile-only users and shared devices, says a new study. The result is a form of digital imperialism, says a new study by Global Web Index (GWI), a digital measurement company which provides information to a wide range of some of the webs largest advertisers and brands such as Twitter. Because those users either don't show up, or are believed to be in mature economies, they aren't targeted for advertising - or the brand-building that is important to establish companies.
 

A top EU official wants internet and telecommunication companies to hand over encryption keys to police and spy agencies as part of a wider crackdown on terrorism.

The EU’s counter-terrorism co-ordinator Gilles de Kerchove, in a document leaked by London-based civil liberties group Statewatch, says the European Commission should come up with rules that require the firms to help national governments snoop on possible suspects.

The Article 29 Working Party, the body made up of representatives of individual European Member States’ data protection authorities (DPAs), has said today that it will not be taking enforcement action against companies that are using alternative transfer mechanisms in the wake of last year’s Safe Harbor strikedown.

European and U.S. negotiators agreed a data pact on Tuesday that should prevent European Union regulators from restricting data transfers by companies such as Google and Amazon across the Atlantic.