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decoded.legal's blog
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- 203 from 17 Dec 2019 to 12 Aug 2026
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- weekly (29 in the last year)
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2026 13
- The EU eEvidence framework and UK Internet and telecoms service providers
- Jury service (27 July - 7 August) and what to expect while I'm away
- Internet services sanctions (June 2026)
- New requirements for facilitating and handling data protection complaints
- Brief comments on two proposed new criminal offences relating to pornography: strangulation / suffocation, and sex (actually or purportedly) between relatives
- The European Data Protection Board is consulting on a template data protection impact assessment for the EU GDPR
- Ofcom 'deadlock' period for ADR reduced to six weeks, for complaints raised on and after 8 April 2026
- What number of UK users constitutes a 'significant number' for the purposes of the Online Safety Act 2023?
- The OSA, sex blogs, erotica, and Ofcom's approach to enforcement
- An overview of the UK's updated laws on storing information in someone's terminal equipment, and accessing information stored in someone's terminal equipment
- Russmedia: a court case imposing data protection obligations which many website operators may struggle to meet?
- Internet services sanctions (January 2026)
- decoded.legal is 10 years old!
2025 21
- Happy holidays 2025
- A proposed legislative amendment to attempt to ban under 16s in the UK from common messaging services, sharing family photos, using Wikipedia, and doing much else online, by imposing age assurance on everyone
- A proposed legislative amendment to attempt to compel VPN services providers to prevent anyone under 18 in the UK from using their VPNs
- Deemed compliance with the UK IoT security requirement to have a relevant connectable product accompanied by a statement of compliance
- Would you like a decoded.legal holiday card? (2025 edition)
- Preparing for the burst of the AI bubble (or just good business planning)
- Announcing decoded.legal, gopher-edition
- The UK/USA Data Access Agreement, and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 partial commencement
- ISPs and telcos: check your pre-contractual information and contract summaries
- The Data Use and Access Act 2025: personal data breach notification timescales, and a lawful basis for UK/USA Data Access Agreement requests
- A proposed new power to allow police (and others) to extract online information from devices following seizure
- Notes from the University of Sussex's 'The Future of the Online Safety Act 2023'
- Free sources of English and other laws as alternatives to AI
- Ofcom bans leasing of Global Titles and imposes broader requirements on non-leasing use of GTs
- The UK's proposed measures for court orders to suspend IP addresses and domain names
- Updated handling of errors and personal data breaches under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016
- It is time to make the Online Safety Act 2023 fit for purpose
- SIM farms, GSM gateways, COMUGs and the Crime and Policing Bill
- Some UK Internet Services Sanctions that I only just spotted
- UK data protection fees to increase by 30%
- Reminder: new Ofcom rules on inflation-linked price rises in telecoms/connectivity agreements start on 17 January
2024 24
- Wishing you happy holidays
- Would you like a decoded.legal Christmas card? (2024 edition)
- Helping lawyers understand the basics of core tech, 2024 edition (with slides)
- New regulations set out circumstances in which the Secretary of State can intervene in the running of internet domain registries for UK-related domains
- What the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 means for UK telecommunications operators
- ND 1437: the 2014 UK call tracing standard that I hadn't heard about
- Some stats on decoded.legal's environmental impact
- Running a law firm on Free software (2024 edition)
- The UK's data protection regulator has taken its (tentative) first step to enforce against non-compliant cookie practices. Sort of.
- UK government proposes to increase data protection fees
- A first look at the ICO's new (beta) tool for creating UK GDPR privacy notices
- Web analytics tools using JavaScript: 'cookie consent' and the UK
- Ofcom amends GC C1 to prohibit inflation-linked price rises for new contracts from 17 January 2025
- The UK/USA data access agreement, subpoenas from the FBI, and a brief update for UK telecoms operators
- The UK's draft Code of Practice for Software Vendors
- The Upper Tribunal's decision in ICO v Experian but mostly griping about a PDF file
- New rules for people making, importing, or distributing Internet-connected or connectable products (Part 3)
- New rules for people making, importing, or distributing Internet-connected or connectable products (Part 2)
- Is DocuSign using your documents to train its AI?
- Ofcom's draft guidance on the Online Safety Act's porn provisions
- An introduction to 'ethical licensing'
- Being an Internet lawyer
- Dealing with 'AI'-generated subject access requests
- Cookies: the letter that the ICO sent to 'top websites'
2023 29
- Happy Christmas!
- DPDI Bill: a new amendment supporting the UK/USA Data Access Agreement
- Online Safety Act 2023: the UK's (anti-)pornographic content provisions
- Would you like a decoded.legal Christmas card?
- Cookies: a brief reminder, now that the ICO is finally taking some action
- More pressure on UK ISPs and telcos: a proposal to compel PECS providers to notify the ICO of suspected unlawful direct marketing
- Online Privacy: slides from a recent lecture
- Ofcom's >1,500 page consultation on the Online Safety Act 2023, and why small companies don't have a chance
- The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill has arrived
- My initial analysis of The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill
- Coming soon: The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill
- Ofcom's new guidance on open Internet / net neutrality, including zero rating and traffic management
- Free software developers and fiduciary obligations: is an English Bitcoin a cause for concern?
- The UK's updated voluntary code of practice for App Stores, whatever those are...
- New rules for people making, importing, or distributing Internet-connected or connectable products (Part 1)
- ICO guidance on workplace monitoring
- Going darker...
- UK GDPR recognises the USA as adequate for some (many?) transfers of personal data
- But lawyers know nothing about tech...
- Consultation on changes to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016's notices regime
- Ofcoms changes to its guidance on incident reporting thresholds for the digital infrastructure subsector under The Network and Information Systems Regulations
- Tech law predictions for 2073
- Ofcom investigates broadband providers for failing to implement simpler switching
- Changes to the Legal Ombudsman's complaints procedure
- Quick, easy and reliable switching: changes coming to Ofcom's General Conditions on 3 April 2023
- There is no copyright in a file format ... unless there is
- The ICO and breach reporting under Reg 5A PECR: take two
- The ICO, breach reporting under Reg 5A PECR, and muddy (muddier?) waters
- Can ISPs, telcos, and tech companies lobby?
2022 28
- Want a Christmas card?
- Notes on operating fediverse services (Mastodon, Pleroma etc) from an English law point of view
- Running a law firm on Linux - a year or so in
- Proposed new law to ban (some?) computer code in UK company names
- Jury service (19 - 30 September) and what to expect while Im away
- Law and the metaverse: new(ish) tech, existing principles?
- What UK telecoms operators need to know about the UK/USA Data Access Agreement and the US CLOUD Act
- The (limited) impact of the High Court's investigatory powers Liberty ruling on telecommunications operators
- Emergency video relay and the 999 BSL service: an update for Internet access providers and telcos
- Router freedom: the (qualified) right for users to choose their own terminal equipment
- Ofcom General Condition changes coming into effect 17 June 2022
- ISPs, telcos, and responding to the ICO's third party information notices
- Presentation: IP addresses and electronic evidence
- Internet Service Sanctions: changes to the UK Sanctions List, and an open letter from Ofcom
- A new sanction affecting Internet access providers in the UK
- Selling to consumers online? Check your final order button text is compliant, or risk a voidable contract
- The UK's International Data Transfer Agreement: what it is and what it means for you
- Neil's YouGotThis.io conference talk on Legal Tips To Build Your Business Safely
- Publishing your source code for others to use? Specify a licence, please!
- Third party requests to exercise data subject rights: quick notes for controllers
- The UK's International Data Transfer Agreement: is this the ICO's worst document yet?
- Events, exclusion lists, and the UK GDPR
- Google Fonts, an IP address, and the GDPR: must I now self-host all my web page resources?
- Five points to note in the EDPB's draft guidelines on the right of access under the GDPR
- Ofcoms General Conditions of Entitlement: an update, with important changes
- Telecommunications Security Act 2021: a quick update
- Don't let cold calling get you into hot water
- Internet, telecoms, and tech law predictions for 2022
2021 31
- Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy new year
- The limits of Norwich Pharmacal orders: when a cellular operator is a witness, not a facilitator of wrongdoing
- Running a law firm on Linux
- decoded.legal and the seven OSI layers for Internet, telecoms, and tech legal advice
- Give them (GNU GP)ell: a new approach to claims for non-compliance with Free software licences?
- Ring doorbells, audio and video monitoring equipment, data protection, and suspiciously long raincoats
- How to handle data subject access requests under the UK GDPR
- Dealing with demands for communications data under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016
- How the draft Online Safety Bill would affect the development of Free / open source software
- Personal data breach reporting for service outages (such as when your CDN is down)
- Online ID / age verification: the death of online search, and non-browser web access?
- No, the European Commission is not compelling online service providers to monitor communications. Well, not yet.
- All reasonable endeavours v best endeavours: a 2021 case update
- Github Copilot: initial thoughts from an English law perspective
- The UK is adequate (for data protection purposes)
- The new standard contract clauses: what you need to know right now
- Must all UK Internet access providers keep records of which websites I visit?
- The EU's terrorist content regulation and what it means for UK hosting providers
- Understanding the Data Protection Acts national security and defence exemption
- Five things to take from the European Parliaments response to the Commission on the GDPR
- Drafting clearer contracts, and why you should care
- Unpicking the making children as safe as they are offline fallacy
- Online harms and the role of intermediaries as enforcers
- Online harms: an extra-territorial over-reach?
- The law firm and the Streisand Effect
- EncroChat, targeted equipment interference, and the Court of Appeal
- Telecoms Security Bill: draft specific obligations for ISPs and telcos
- The territorial scope of the GDPR, as applied by the High Court
- Alternatives to using genuine phone numbers, IP addresses, domain names and email addresses in your training and documentation
- Four legal tips to keep your business running smoothly in 2021
- decoded.legal is five years old today!
2020 47
- ICO: data sharing code of practice
- The UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement and data protection: what you should do now
- Merry Christmas and a happy new year
- What could the Telecommunications (Security) Bill mean for ISPs and telcos?
- Unpicking the licensing situation for implementing 'This is Lenny' on your phone system
- Aint no party like a virtual Christmas party
- Does displaying Article 61 of Magna Carta exempt me from compliance with Covid rules in England?
- Privacy policy or privacy notice?
- My website has been hacked: a legal checklist
- Doing email marketing business to business in a compliant manner
- Goodwill hunting
- Broadband installation charges: do I have to refund a consumer for these?
- Audio porn and plain English consensual contracts
- The end of zero rating?
- (Cyber)Flash A-Ah!
- Combatting child sexual abuse imagery: a proposed exemption to the EU's ePrivacy rules
- Targeted social media ads: new guidance on doing it lawfully
- Does size matter? And how does a communications provider know how big you are?
- SafetyTech: what it is, and key legal issues
- Sales to consumers through online platforms: new rules to protect businesses
- Your record of processing activity: what it is, and why having one will make your life so much easier
- Network operators: reporting obligations for reductions in availability
- Four things you need to know about the Age Appropriate Design Code
- Cyber-attacks and sanctions
- Demystifying The Dark Net (free video)
- Urgent: changes to communications data acquisition in the UK
- What is a data protection impact assessment, and when might I need to do one?
- The EDPB's opinion on the UK/US data access agreement under the CLOUD Act
- BEREC's updated net neutrality guidance
- Bodged redactions, copy-and-paste, and criminal offences
- Draft French law on porn site age verification and site blocking
- How to spy on my wife’s phone: an English law perspective on an article about stalkerware
- Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things
- gov.uk guidance on contracts: don't be a dick
- Online interface orders: a new injunction against service providers
- ISPs, outages, and (automatic?) compensation
- I can't meet my obligations because of coronavirus
- Privacy notices in three simple steps
- Onion services, the dark net, and the law
- Selling online to consumers: the right to cancel
- Late payment: small businesses, solos, and freelancers
- Is cryptocurrency property?
- Do I need to worry about the new Californian privacy law?
- Brexit: a data protection checklist for UK controllers
- GDPR: it's not too late
- Book recommendations for 2020, and my favourites from 2019
- Time to change your personal data diet?