The Curious Engineer

All blogs / Society / politics / economy

Paul Bernal's Blog

paulbernal.wordpress.com

Privacy, Human Rights, Law, The Internet, Politics and more

Society / politics / economySecurity

’10’15’20’25
Posts
433 from 6 Mar 2010 to 3 Dec 2025
Posting
now and then (1 in the last year)
Kind
personal blog
Feed
https://paulbernal.wordpress.com/feed/

2025 2

  1. Banning kids from social media? A very bad idea…
  2. Digital ID cards – some of the issues…

2024 2

  1. Riots and social media regulation – some thoughts
  2. Digital ID cards, and why we should be nervous…

2022 4

  1. Do we even need an Online Safety Bill?
  2. The gaping void at the heart of the Online Safety Bill
  3. In praise of hiding..
  4. Who needs privacy?

2021 5

  1. BT’s ‘Walk me home’: tech solutionism at its worst
  2. Children need anonymity and encryption!
  3. Verified IDs for social media? I don’t think so….
  4. Real Names: the wrong tool for the wrong problem
  5. Why a real names policy won’t solve trolling

2020 4

  1. Our Dom
  2. Contact tracing, privacy, magical thinking – and trust!
  3. what do we know and what should we do about…? internet privacy
  4. For Brexit

2019 6

  1. The BBC’s problems are no conspiracy theory…
  2. Tories, Twitter and Fake News
  3. Response to Online Harms White Paper
  4. Impartiality and the BBC…
  5. SLS 2019 – University of Central Lancashire, Preston
  6. Corbyn and those European Courts

2018 9

  1. Fake with Jake…
  2. Fake news and fake vicars…
  3. A few words on Freedom of Movement…
  4. The Internet, Warts and All: Free Speech, Privacy and Truth
  5. Guest Post: Upskirting and Human Rights
  6. Guest post: Data Retention: I can’t believe it’s not lawful, can you? A response to Anthony Speaight QC
  7. A few words on the University strike…
  8. Free speech, safe spaces and hypocrisy
  9. Guest Post: Your Immigration Status, Please!

2017 11

  1. The Twelve Days of Brexit
  2. John Lewis, Brexit… and Goldilocks!
  3. Listen to the privacy geeks…
  4. A poem for Brexit
  5. The Return of Mr Gove!
  6. A few words on Labour
  7. A disturbing plan for control…
  8. Privacy and Security together…
  9. The internet, privacy and terrorism…
  10. Blinded… a short poem for World Poetry Day
  11. Closed borders and closing minds?

2016 31

  1. The Investigatory Powers Act: still a question of trust…
  2. Guest post: A rebuttal of what constitutes discrimination
  3. Five reasons NOT to use Facebook posts for insurance premiums…
  4. Brexit and consequences…
  5. A poem for Theresa May
  6. Warning signs – and surveillance…
  7. A better debate on surveillance?
  8. More on Corbyn’s Digital Manifesto…
  9. Dear Labour MPs and Members
  10. Guest post: Turkey, the ECHR and the Death Penalty
  11. A wish and a prayer
  12. Dear Labour Plotters
  13. Guest post: The Wrong Prison! Sending trans women to male prisons is a breach of the ECHR
  14. How not to reclaim the internet…
  15. Whittingdale – missing privacy points.
  16. Panama, privacy and power…
  17. Internet Connection Records: answering the wrong question?
  18. Labour and the #IPBill
  19. A little more on #IPBill encryption…
  20. The IP Bill: opaqueness on encryption?
  21. An independent review body for the IP Bill?
  22. The new IP Bill…. first thoughts…
  23. Brexit: straw men and pipe dreams
  24. Why is Apple fighting the FBI?
  25. The Internet is not a Telephone System
  26. The Saga Of the Privacy Shield…
  27. Time to change Twitter, or #RIPTwitter?
  28. No Grants, No Fair? – Guest post by Super Cyan…
  29. Does the UK engage in ‘mass surveillance’?
  30. Global letter on Encryption – why it matters.
  31. Investigatory Powers Bill – my written submission

2015 51

  1. The Twelve Days of Corbyn
  2. #IPBill Christmas cards… the collection…
  3. Happy Christmas from the IP Bill – Part 5
  4. Happy Christmas from the IP Bill – part 4
  5. Happy Christmas from the IP Bill – part 3
  6. Happy Christmas from the IP Bill – part 2
  7. Happy Christmas from the IP Bill
  8. Finding Proportionality in Surveillance Laws – Guest post by Andrew Murray
  9. Notes from the IP Bill Committee session
  10. Paris
  11. Surveillance: thinking outside the box
  12. A few words on ‘Internet Connection Records’
  13. A ‘mature debate’ on surveillance? Yes please!
  14. MPs, privacy and the Wilson Doctrine
  15. In praise of U-turns…
  16. Dear Tristram Hunt
  17. The Surveillance Elephant in the Room…
  18. The ethical case for ad-blocking
  19. Ethical policing of the internet – part 2
  20. The Labour Purge…. and social media privacy.
  21. Neither ‘moderates’ nor ‘ modernisers’…
  22. The Labour Leadership Saga…
  23. A ten point plan for the anti-Corbyn campaign.
  24. Hollow Labour….
  25. DRIPA overturned…. an explanation and comment
  26. Blair, Elvis and the Labour Leadership Contest
  27. GCHQ, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and Amnesty – two small points…
  28. Mr Gove Lays Down The Law
  29. Labour staring into the abyss….
  30. Open letter on rule of law and surveillance
  31. Labour didn’t lose the election in 2015….
  32. That British Bill of Rights…
  33. Denial isn’t a river in Africa – it’s an election in the UK
  34. Why I’m voting Labour in Cambridge
  35. The Cambridge Election: Princess Bride Style
  36. Messages on mugs: deaths in the Med
  37. Storm in a tea-cup?
  38. Princes, Privacy and Power…
  39. A shout out for the Open Rights Group!
  40. Now it’s time for a review OF the ISC
  41. Guest post: Deeper than Privacy Failure
  42. No, Mr Hammond, the debate has barely begun…
  43. Debates, impartiality, Cameron and Chickens…
  44. Ethical policing of the internet?
  45. Rifkind of the ISC…
  46. Be more goat…
  47. A poem for Data Protection Day
  48. The Snoopers’ Charter: Shameful Opportunism
  49. Non, David, vous n’êtes pas Charlie!
  50. Paris damages the case for mass surveillance…
  51. Dear Labour supporters…

2014 96

  1. Politicians of the year…
  2. Welcome to ‘Great’ Britain?
  3. 50 at 50….
  4. Labour and torture…
  5. #Establishment?
  6. The Nige Before Christmas
  7. Fear and loathing of social media…
  8. Calling politicians ‘childish’ is an insult to children…
  9. Facebook And Twitter – Handling Extremism And Disorder
  10. A new Snoopers’ charter, drip by drip?
  11. #TweetlikeanMP?
  12. Surveillance, power and chill…. and the Chatham House Rule
  13. So who’s breaking the internet this time?
  14. Samaritans Radar – underestimating people…
  15. Samaritans Radar: understanding how people use twitter…
  16. Samaritans Radar is not a ‘privacy’ story!
  17. GCHQ: I’m not charmed yet….
  18. Samaritans Radar: misunderstanding privacy and ‘publicness’
  19. Mr Bigot’s Halloween….
  20. Immigration, xenophobia and racism…
  21. Valuing the human…
  22. Trolls, threats, the law and deterrence…
  23. Politics, surveillance and trust….
  24. Knights of the ISC Round Table….
  25. Not Ed Miliband’s speech on immigration
  26. UKIP’s idea of freedom…..
  27. We have met the enemy and he is us…
  28. What to do when you make a mistake – an object lesson!
  29. In praise of pseudonyms…
  30. What makes journalists special?
  31. Politics – why can’t we admit mistakes?
  32. Human rights and the trivial…..
  33. The Ballad of Google Spain
  34. Censorship and surveillance…
  35. Unleash the doubts of war….
  36. Long spoons…
  37. The trap of the demand for constitutional change…
  38. The right be forgotten roadshow – and the power of Google.
  39. The Resurrection of Privacy?
  40. Royal Babies…. and human rights!
  41. Victim-blaming: an all-pervading curse
  42. Who needs privacy? All of us….
  43. Data and politics…
  44. Wikipedia and the Right to be Forgotten…
  45. Privacy invasive law in Mexico – guest post by Lisa M Brownlee
  46. DRIP: web-mail and web-browsing….
  47. A right to delete – not a right to be forgotten…
  48. Dave Eggers’ The Circle: a book for our times…
  49. Surveillance and Austerity
  50. DRIP: normalising the surveillance state.
  51. DRIP: Parliament in disrepute?
  52. Open letter from UK legal academic experts re DRIP
  53. Theresa May – even more reason to worry about DRIP….
  54. DRIP: a shabby process for a shady law.
  55. Facebook, Google and the little people….
  56. Are Google intentionally overreacting to the Right to be Forgotten?
  57. The Facebook Experiment: the ‘why’ questions…
  58. The Facebook Experiment… a discussion on BBC world…
  59. Facebook’s updated terms and conditions…. ;)
  60. Privacy-friendly judges?
  61. No more austerity: are protests ‘news’?
  62. Kids and contributions…
  63. Tony, Boris and Ed: Getting it wrong….
  64. The corporate response to Snowden – 1 minute video
  65. British values?
  66. Edward Snowden one year on: the good, the bad and the ugly
  67. The Ballad of KipperNick
  68. A week not to be forgotten….
  69. The Right to be Forgotten: Neither Triumph Nor Disaster?
  70. It’s not the end of the world as we know it….
  71. When is a ‘libertarian’ not a libertarian?
  72. UKIP and the reality of Britain
  73. Guest Post: Rights of Academics and Prisoners
  74. Mr Bigot… …runs away!
  75. Mr Bigot
  76. Why I’ll be voting Green – and it’s not about the environment!
  77. Who killed privacy?
  78. The price of everything and the value of nothing…
  79. Data Retention: taking privacy seriously
  80. Data retention: fighting for privacy!
  81. Rumpole in defence of the criminal bar…
  82. Yashika, UKIP and us….
  83. Why I’m NOT rejoining the Labour Party
  84. My new book: Internet Privacy Rights
  85. Tony Benn’s five questions – and surveillance
  86. Guest post: In accordance with a flaw?
  87. Tim Kelsey discovers care.data is in trouble…
  88. Care.data and the community…
  89. Surveillance: ten ways to fight back!
  90. Communications Surveillance – a miscast debate
  91. No, Prime Minister
  92. Time to get Angry about Data Protection!
  93. Privacy isn’t selfish…
  94. Surveillance, huh? What is it good for?
  95. A biased, anecdotal post about Romania….
  96. THE CORE OF THE UK

2013 101

  1. 2013 in review
  2. Mr Gove: A Christmas Carol…
  3. It’s not just the porn that will be over-blocked….
  4. Surveillance and Consent
  5. That Cameron-China checklist…
  6. A few words on privilege…
  7. Clare’s Law: a simple solution, or more confusion?
  8. Martin Bernal Memorial, Cambridge
  9. Protest and survive?
  10. Surveillance: Needles in Haystacks…
  11. Minority Report on the Tesco Forecourt?
  12. Free speech under attack
  13. Mr Gove’s Halloween
  14. Racist or authoritarian?
  15. Mr Gove’s Brilliant Idea!
  16. ‘Individual privacy vs collective security’? NO!
  17. Dear Rachel Reeves….
  18. A badger moving the goalposts….
  19. Mr Quiet
  20. ‘Hard working people’ doesn’t work for me…
  21. Supporting the creative economy?
  22. Dear Big Energy Suppliers….
  23. The iPhone crack’d from side to side….
  24. 10 things I want to hear at the Labour Conference
  25. Online privacy and identity – and Disney Princesses!
  26. Porn filters, politics and liberalism….
  27. iPhones, fingerprints and privacy
  28. If privacy is dead, we need to resurrect it!
  29. A Defence of Responsible Tweeting…
  30. Mr Gove goes to war!
  31. Guest post: Go home, Superman!!
  32. Syria and the myth of simple solutions
  33. ‘Real names’ chill free speech….
  34. Four fears for authoritarians
  35. Twitter abuse: one click to save us all?
  36. Internet porn-filter Venn diagram…
  37. My porn-blocking blog post got porn-blocked!
  38. There’s no ‘silver bullet’ for porn….
  39. 10 questions about Cameron’s ‘new’ porn-blocking
  40. The name’s Snowden. Edward Snowden
  41. Guest Post: Asking the wrong questions?
  42. The new University Law degree, Boris Johnson style
  43. Labour: time for a new ‘third way’?
  44. Help us Obi-Wan Tom Watson, you’re our only hope!
  45. Privacy, me, and the NSA?
  46. Privacy: the more we know, the more we care….
  47. Communications Surveillance, Protest and Control…
  48. Guest post: Identity Crisis?
  49. PRISM: Share with the CIA – and Facebook!
  50. Martin Bernal
  51. PRISM: lessons for the future?
  52. Dear Larry and Mark….
  53. PRISM: Internet surveillance IS a big deal!
  54. Governments, the internet and freedom….
  55. Woolwich and the case against the Snoopers’ Charter!
  56. Terrorism and knee-jerk legislation…
  57. That’s what makes you bigoted…
  58. A few words on equality…
  59. One Nation: Unanswered questions…
  60. What do students want? The dangers of oversimplification…
  61. Mr Gove
  62. Will the Snooper’s Charter be back?
  63. Google Glass: just because you can…
  64. How should Labour react to UKIP? A few thoughts…
  65. How to make Labour a progressive party…
  66. Eight things I like about universal benefits…
  67. Frankenstein’s UKIP?
  68. Beware the Snoopers’ Charter Rising from the Grave…
  69. Snoopers’ Charter RIP?
  70. Even wankers have rights….
  71. The Snoopers’ Charter – what’s happening?
  72. Free speech… what’s the point? UPDATED
  73. A privacy friendly future? The slides….
  74. Thatcher’s funeral – why not a ‘Public Subscription’?
  75. Paris Brown, Free Speech and Social Media
  76. A few words from one of Thatcher’s children….
  77. A privacy friendly future?
  78. A challenge to Labour
  79. Ignorance, wisdom, politicians and poverty…
  80. Demonisation by stages… a very short poem…
  81. Food stamps and the database state…
  82. Don’t blame Leveson…
  83. The Snoopers’ Charter: we need a new consultation
  84. An angry rant… about Workfare, Labour, and politics….
  85. Leveson: Bloggers and the Royal Charter
  86. Leveson: don’t believe the hype….
  87. Internet Surveillance: a despot’s dream…
  88. Withdrawal from the ECHR: a Venn diagram…
  89. Privacy is not the enemy – rebooted…
  90. Lobbyists: who pays the piper…
  91. Big Brother is watching you…. and so are his corporate partners
  92. CREATe and the copyright lobby…
  93. Google, privacy and a new kind of lawsuit
  94. In praise of regulation….
  95. Children have a right to privacy
  96. If you “can’t” leave Facebook…
  97. Facebook Graph Search: Privacy issues….
  98. Facebook Graph Search: It’s about the data!
  99. It’s about the children…
  100. An uncharitable suggestion…
  101. 2012 – how did we do?

2012 66

  1. 2012 in review… WordPress.com automatic summary…
  2. 10 reasons to leave Facebook…
  3. 12 days…. of privacy?
  4. Tiny steps… almost real….
  5. A thousand words?
  6. The proof of the pudding…
  7. Fanciful and misleading…
  8. They’re taking over the internet!
  9. Turning the tables…
  10. My snoopers’ charter posts…
  11. Witches and Unicorns
  12. The politics of privacy…
  13. Chilling out…
  14. Choose your dystopia – part 2!
  15. Choose your dystopia…
  16. Defamation on Twitter…
  17. Wishful thinking?
  18. Topical subjects….
  19. Communications Data Bill Venn Diagram…
  20. Will the government ‘get’ digital policy?
  21. Taking a lead on privacy??
  22. Snitchgate developments
  23. Facebook: snitchgate!
  24. Privacy for all?
  25. A progressive digital policy?
  26. Snoopers’ Charter Consultation
  27. Military schools… the myths…
  28. The myth of technological ‘solutions’
  29. Annoyed by those cookie warnings?
  30. The snoopers charter
  31. Votes for kids?
  32. The Dalai Lama at the LSE…
  33. Labour and the ‘Snoopers’ Charter’…
  34. A police state?
  35. Anonymity, trolls – and defamation?
  36. Opt-in is no red herring…
  37. Who goes where???
  38. The right to be forgotten…..
  39. I do not like this CCDP
  40. A wake up call?
  41. Safe…. or Savvy?
  42. Scrambling for safety?
  43. Doin’ it for the kids?
  44. The politics of privacy
  45. If you build it, they will come…
  46. Why does the government always get it wrong?
  47. In my name?
  48. Truth and lies, policy and practice…
  49. Once upon a time in Mexico…
  50. Free expression needs privacy!
  51. Twitter/DataSift – an early ICO response
  52. In praise of the ephemeral!
  53. Time for a change?
  54. Infamy, Infamy, they’ve all got it in for me!
  55. Ready to Rumble?
  56. Big Brother is watching you – and so are his commercial partners
  57. What Muad’Dib can teach us about personal data…
  58. Do you want a camera in your kid’s bedroom??
  59. Facebook, Photos and the Right to be Forgotten
  60. Phorm – a chapter closes?
  61. Crazy Europeans!?!
  62. Players and Pawns in the Game of Privacy
  63. Same as it ever was… privacy in history!
  64. 10 things I hate about the ICO
  65. The Internet IS a (Human) Right…
  66. Personalisation and politics

2011 29

  1. Privacy… and the Phantom Tollbooth!
  2. 12 wishes for online privacy….
  3. Privacy is not the enemy…
  4. Heroes and villains?
  5. Whose data? Our data!!!
  6. The significance of the insignificant
  7. The beginning or the end of cyberlaw?
  8. Assange – keeping the issues separate
  9. Search Engines, Search Engine Optimisation – and us!
  10. Goo goo google’s tiny steps towards privacy…
  11. Privacy is personal…
  12. Business and Privacy: Evidence and Assumptions?
  13. Privacy, Parenting and Porn
  14. Privacy – and Occupy Wall Street?
  15. The privacy race to the bottom
  16. Romanian re-Phorm-ation?
  17. Is sharing natural? Is privacy?
  18. Logout should mean logout! UPDATED
  19. New website…
  20. A tale of three conferences…
  21. Phone-hacking, Online Behavioural Advertising and Tobacco
  22. Hello world!
  23. Out of the mouths of Europeans?
  24. Dogs will be dogs…
  25. The real challenge for IT Lawyers: the law!
  26. Let’s forget the right to be forgotten…
  27. The ICO: between a rock and a hard place? Not really…
  28. Do we have a ‘right to be found’?
  29. A Disinformation Age?

2010 16

  1. IT law isn’t simple….
  2. Opting out of Street View….
  3. How personal is personal?
  4. Every which way to lose your data…
  5. No more place for privacy?
  6. A creditable approach?
  7. Quality matters!
  8. Why make privacy complicated?
  9. The politics of privacy – does privacy matter?
  10. The business of rights…
  11. Consent: a red herring?
  12. Now we’re all at it… especially the good guys…
  13. Digital Economy Bill passes the Lords…
  14. All hail the Internet?
  15. The good, the bad and the ugly side of privacy in Germany
  16. Welcome