Brussels, 31/01/2018. ACEM’s ‘Sustainable motorcycling in Europe’ conference last week in Brussels was a fascinating blend between the usual Brussels EU conference (suits, eurocrats, industry execs, etc.) and what has traditionally been seen as a niche pursuit (riding motorcycles). ACEM’s aim (representing as it does the motorcycle manufacturers) is of […]

  – being a compilation of instant, sometimes off-the-cuff reactions to day-to-day reportings ……     European Commission preparing EU legislation to protect whistleblowers 05/03/2018. Vera Jourová, EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equity, speaking to the LIBE Committee in the European Parliament, 05 March 2018. She said, speaking […]

        A selection of articles that illustrate the pre-occupation of governments with monitoring and controlling their citizens. This post re-instated 03/2017 after being, somewhat mysteriously, deleted from the blog – yet again. Apparently there are some who do not believe in the freedom of the press. 2018 […]

Updated 25/05/2017. This page is an attempt to compile some of the online resources available to help journalists improve their online security. Need to take online security seriously That journalists need to think about such matters is not in doubt – there have been more than enough revelations from Edward […]

Deep Web for Journalists, by Alan Pearce – a review Journalists typically see digital tools such as the laptop and smartphone as essential parts of the work armoury, even some occasionally wonder about the level of compromise involved in their use. Yet even a cursory perusal of Alan Pearce’s new […]

StingRays should be manta-ray shaped – and bright green in colour Brussels, 16/03/2015. I’ve often wondered about that box at the top of the local telephone pole. For those who remember the TV series, the immortal line “Thunderbirds are go” always accompanied the launch of the rescue team on their […]

        10/02/2015. “The EU has to make existing European data protection rights more effective in practice, and to allow citizens to more easily exercise their rights, at a time when we all run our entire lives with our smartphones”, says newly appointed European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni […]

      09 December 2014. Brussels’ 5th Annual European Data Protection & Privacy Conference today was notable more for what was not said rather than its explicit content. I happened to say the name Edward Snowden a few times in conversation, and each mention was met with a short […]

MEPs in the European Parliament on 25/11/2014 referred the EU/Canada agreement on the exchange of Passenger Name Records (PNR) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). MEPs have asked that the PNR agreement be given a preliminary check by the Court before the Parliament’s final vote, given the questions over […]

Brussels, 10 November 2014. So the new head of GCHQ thinks US technology companies are becoming “the command and control networks of choice” for terrorists (Guardian, 03 November 2014). Mr Hannigan’s ideas are so out of touch with present-day political reality that it is difficult to know what to say. […]