Data Policy Digest

Gavin Freeguard

Gavin Freeguard

Hello, and welcome to our 25th Data Policy Digest, bringing you all the latest data and AI policy developments.

Ah, autumn. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness - and unhealthy, underwhelming beige buffet bites and warm white wine. Yes, several of us are heading up to Liverpool for Labour Party conference this weekend - if you are too, check out our spreadsheet of data and AI events, or drop me a line if you’d like to meet up.

And you should definitely sign up for the Building Tech for Everyone Drinks on Sunday evening, which we’re hosting with our friends from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, Careful Industries, the ODI, ZoomInfo and the Startup Coalition. It’ll be fashionable to be early - we may have a government minister for you if you’re there at 6…

Three other forthcoming events to flag:

If there’s something we’ve missed, something you’re up to that you’d like us to include next time or you have any thoughts on how useful the Digest is or could be, please get in touch via gavin@connectedbydata.org. We’re on Twitter @ConnectedByData, Bluesky @connectedbydata.bsky.social, and Mastodon @ConnectedByData@social.coop. You can also catch up on previous Digests.

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Contents

Data policy developments

What we’ve been up to

What everyone else has been up to

Events

Good reads

Data policy developments

Bills, bills, bills

Digital Information and Smart Data Bill (DISD, which we’re pronouncing ‘dissed’) This may appear in the autumn. Diginomica have three preview pieces, while CILIP (the library and information association) and digital identity company Yoti have written to the Secretary of State and made some recommendations, respectively.

We expect digital identity verification services will be in the Bill. Those feature in Careful Industries’ new report, Digital Identity in the UK: A Rapid Response Study. Jake Richards MP has also written Digital ID: Empowering Citizens and Transforming Public Services for Progressive Britain… while DSIT has published guidance on how to Join the register of digital identity and attribute services and Enabling the use of digital identities in the UK.

Some other bits and pieces relevant to things that might be in the Bill… NatWest Group has joined the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) (Mortgage Introducer, in their first appearance in the Digest)… Evaluating browser-based cookie setting options (DSIT).

Also, while we’re on big government data initiatives… I have been remiss in somehow not linking to various relevant pieces on the National Data Library - I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever laid before me - so… The new UK Government wants a National Data Library: a brilliant aspiration, if built on solid foundations (ADR UK)… Data Sharing Infrastructure (Digital Twin Hub)… Towards a new Data for London Library (Theo Blackwell)… The ODI’s input to the AI Action Plan: an AI-ready National Data Library (ODI)…

And I may well be reading too much into this, on algorithmic transparency (which peers tried to add to the previous Data Bill), but… GOV.UK suggests that the page of Algorithmic Transparency Records has been updated; there do not appear to be any new entries; but there are several organisations now listed in the navigation bit on the left, despite not having any records yet. We’re expecting new records to be published soon - does this give us a clue as to which organisations are about to publish something?

AI Bill We’re waiting for this one as well. There’ll be a few discussions on AI in the Lords over the next few weeks (see Parly-vous data, below).

Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill ICO and NCA sign memorandum of understanding for further collaboration on cyber security (ICO)… TfL faces ‘ongoing cyber security incident’ (BBC)… Boy arrested over London transport cyber hack (BBC)… TfL writes to 5,000 cyber attack customers (BBC)… UK convenes global coalition to boost cyber skills and tackle growing threats (DSIT).

Other King’s Speech Bills The Product Safety and Metrology Bill will have its second reading in the Lords on 8 October. The Regulatory Policy Committee have rated the impact assessment green.

Online Safety Act Crackdown on intimate image abuse as government strengthens online safety laws (DSIT, MoJ, Home Office)… ‘Small but risky’ online services under the Online Safety Act: letter from DSIT Secretary of State (DSIT)… more on smartphones, in the UK (Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free, The Guardian), Belgium (Belgian schools launch crackdown on smartphones, Politico) and Australia (Labor’s plan [Australia] to ban children from social media might actually create more harm, charity says, The Guardian)…

While the Online Safety Act Network newsletter returns after a summer break, and the Network’s Maeve Walsh is profiled as ‘the “civil servant in the wild” who fought for the Online Safety Act’ by Civil Service World.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act Business and Trade Minister Justin Madders made a statement to the House on the timetable for implementing the Bill.

Private Member’s Bills See Parly-vous data, below, for more on PMBs in the Commons (we know the 20 MPs who were drawn, but not yet what they’ll introduce) and Lords (Lord Clement-Jones on public sector algorithms and Baroness Owen on Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos).

Other The commencement of the Procurement Act will be delayed from October to February, while ‘a new National Procurement Policy Statement that clearly sets out this Government’s priorities for public procurement in support of our missions’. That came from Cabinet Office minister, Georgia Gould, who was previously leader of Camden - might be a good moment to gen up on a report by UCL’s IIPP on mission-driven procurement there.

DSIT up and take notice

Let’s start at the conventional centre of government: there are continued controversies around the Downing Street operation, as Starmer defended Sue Gray after reports of No 10 rifts (BBC) even before All The Salary Fallout; there have been some significant appointments, with a Head of Mission Delivery Unit appointed (CSW), Sir Michael Barber appointed as adviser to the Prime Minister (10 Downing Street - more from CSW, some old IfG reports give a quick rundown on the Public Service Agreements associated with Barber, while Claire Melamed wrote about what government can learn from how schools use data for impact in measuring missions for the Bennett Institute), and several MPs (including a few on the digital/data side) made ‘mission champions’ (Stian Westlake also has Some thoughts on research & innovation capacity to deliver Government missions); and Treasury guidance recommends ‘light touch’ business case for digital projects (Public Technology).

DSIT ministers have been busy: Peter Kyle gave a speech at the Campaign for Science and Engineering Conference (and also joked with Research Professional News that he ’wouldn’t wish a doctorate on my worst enemy!’), Chris Bryant gave a speech at Connected Britain 2024, while Feryal Clark was in Brazil for the G20 meeting on the digital economy, which produced this ministerial declaration. Elsewhere, former DSIT policy adviser, Ben Johnson, spoke to The Entrepreneurs Network on ‘bridging government and innovation networks to seize the UK’s edge in science and technology’.

The move of GDS, CDDO and i.AI to DSIT continues to attract coverage: ‘Really powerful’ – GDS boss welcomes move to policy department (Public Technology), while the latest print edition of Civil Service World looks at the new digital centre of government and how the MHRA is using AI.

Other central data news includes Activating data for national benefit and transformed public services (UK government’s chief data officer)… Introducing the Government Data Quality Community (Government Data Quality Hub)… The Civil Service Data Challenge: An exhilarating grand finale (CDDO)… and How we’re continuously improving the Digital and Data Capability Framework (CDDO). I co-chaired Think Data for Government - there’s a summary of the whole thing, or longer pieces on What does the future of data in public sector look like? and Solving the gen AI data challenge - while techUK had former DfE chief data officer Neil McIvor write about Data for a modern civil service (techUK).

A new Interim director of GOV.UK has been named (CSW), though they’ll need to choose their celebratory words carefully: ‘No swear words’ – government updates GOV.UK content guidance (Public Technology).

On digital government… a couple of pieces on OneLogin, GDS to monitor environmental impact of One Login (UKAuthority), and GOV.UK One Login: Designing for inclusion at scale (GDS)… Computer Weekly have an extract from Richard Pope’s new book, Platformland - Building the next generation of digital public services… and UK rises, and Denmark leads, in 2024 UN e-government rankings (Government Transformation).

A big policy announcement was Data centres to be given massive boost and protections from cyber criminals and IT blackouts (DSIT)… complete with written ministerial statement… Ministers classify datacentres as critical national infrastructure and announce £8bn AWS investment in UK (Public Technology)… ‘Google and Jeff Bezos have more money than God’: DC01UK looks to US Big Tech to fund £4bn data centre (UKTN).

Lots of advice about AI and the public sector, with a new report from Reform (the thinktank, not the party), Getting the machine learning: Scaling AI in public services, Think tank calls for creation of ‘Government Data and AI Service’ (CSW), AI could transform Whitehall, but only if government takes a radical new approach (CSW)… How AI can grease the wheels of government (Global Government Forum)… AI in government: The need for human foundations (Ben Welby and Stefano Piano for Public Technology - Ben also wrote that with AI in government: it’s about people, not technology (as always))… Artificial intelligence in automated decision-making in tax administration: the case for legal, justiciable and enforceable safeguards (IFS)… Artificial intelligence case studies: Good practice by local authorities (EHRC)… I chaired Jeni and speakers from i.AI, Scott Logic and the IfG on How should government use AI? (IfG), who also published Whitehall and AI: how can government move from promising pilots to real results?… Global Government Forum and Cognizant have some new research which sets out how UK government can capitalise on the opportunities of AI…

You’ll be able to hear from the Scottish Government about their public engagement work at our next community of practice meeting on 3 October. Until then, you can read their report and blogpost on Open data in Scotland: a blueprint for unlocking innovation, collaboration and impact, and more on their Public dialogue on data sharing outside of the public sector in Scotland… meanwhile, John Swinney pledges to ‘intensify’ support for innovators (Holyrood)…

Some stories on local data these past few weeks… Oflog: review of long-term role, and short-term remit (MHCLG)… Local government minister orders review of Oflog (Civil Service World)… What now for Oflog? (Reform)… Setting the foundations for effective data use in local government (MHCLG Digital)…

In stats-land, you can sign up for the first ever UK Statistics Assembly (ONS) on Wednesday 22 January (it was a recommendation of the recent Lievesley Review)… Whose line is it anyway? Why the misleading presentation of statistics cannot be dismissed as just a matter of opinion (ONS)… Trust in official statistics remains high but there’s still work to do (ONS)…

On health… The Independent investigation of the NHS in England (Darzi Review) has been published… The PM’s speech about it says ‘analogue to digital’ is one of three necessary shifts (long-suffering subscribers may remember that from some of mission docs and speeches pre-election)… Pritesh Mistry from the King’s Fund looks at the tech aspects… as does Public Technology, NHS review finds ‘decade of missed opportunity’ on digital… Darzi’s diagnosis might be missing a trick (National Voices)… techUK also responded… and The Observer view on the NHS: If it is to ‘reform or die’, let’s start with the way it handles our data (The Observer)… Key aspects of Palantir’s Federated Data Platform lack legal basis, lawyers tell NHS England (The Register)… Jeni tweeted about radiology and humans in the loop… Predicting: The future of health? (Ada Lovelace Institute)… Open call for presentations (Digital Health Rewired 2025)…

On policing… Police Digital Service staff arrests: Everything you need to know (Computer Weekly)… Surrey Police told to act over outstanding FOIs (BBC)… in the wider justice system, Digital court systems blamed for surge in personal data breaches (Evening Standard - more from Owen Boswarva)… while in the security services, Bill Burns and Richard Moore: Intelligence partnership helps the US and UK stay ahead in an uncertain world (FT - Public Technology and The Register have summaries)…

Some job and appointment opportunities… JOB: Head of Research and Policy (ESRC)… OPPORTUNITY: The Prime Ministers Council for Science and Technology (CST), Members (x8)… Become an ARIA Programme Director (ARIA)…

Additionally, from DSIT… annual report and accounts… UK Science and Innovation Network summaries for Thailand and South Korea… and from elsewhere, UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement (FCDO) Putting government geographers on the map: Meet profession head David Wood (CSW)… Annual Report 2023-2024 (ADR UK)… Empowering the digital journey: Building digital proficiency in the public sector (ICS Digital - a new one on me)… in rocket emoji securonomics?, Andrew Bennett and Jeegar Kakkad reckon a vibe shift on tech is leaving enthusiasts feeling jittery… Government looks to improve whistleblowing data collection (Public Technology)… and the Grenfell public inquiry report has a few passages on data deficiencies.

Party people

Tory story Revealed: Major Tory donor was handed public contract before general election (Democracy for Sale - the donor in question being Simon Blagden, formerly head of BDUK)… Sir Robert Buckland: ‘Limiting lying,’ for ‘Generation AI?’ (Bright Blue)… The Government needs to prioritise the new Smart Data bill to boost small businesses (former minister, Kevin Hollinrake, for the Yorkshire Post)… and former digital minister Matt Warman is throwing his hat into the ring to be Tory candidate for the new Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty.

Owning the Libs Ed Davey has reshuffled the Lib Dem frontbench. Their new spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology is newbie MP Victoria Collins, described as an entrepreneur (Politico notes her previous articles for Forbes). She succeeds Layla Moran, who’s been elected chair of the Health and Social Care select committee. Other relevant appointments include new MP Max Wilkinson (DCMS - MP for cyber-interested Cheltenham, he intervened a few times in the Commons technology in public services debate) and relative veteran Sarah Olney (Cabinet Office).

Conference calls

We’ve had SNP conference (Edinburgh), Green conference (Manchester, where a motion on ‘Addressing the Dire Need for AI Regulation’ was passed) and Lib Dem conference (Brighton).

We’ve also had TUC Congress (Brighton, 8-11 September), where successful motions included 76, on Young workers, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, and a composite motion (C16) bundling together several others relating to AI regulation, equality, skills, training, and the arts.

Next is Reform (the party, not the thinktank - Birmingham, today and tomorrow), then Labour (Liverpool, Sunday to Wednesday), followed by the Conservatives (Birmingham, 29 September to 2 October) and Plaid Cymru (Cardiff, 11-12 October).

Our spreadsheet has hopefully caught all the data, AI and tech-related events at conferences to come - please do add any we’ve missed. Three to flag at Labour: on Sunday at 3pm, our very own Jeni will be on a panel with speakers including minister Chris Bryant as part of a Fabian Society fringe on the future for science, innovation and technology; at 6pm on Sunday, it’s Building Tech for Everyone Drinks with us, the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy*, Careful Industries, the ODI, ZoomInfo and the Startup Coalition; and on Monday at midday, Adam will be at the Campaign Fringe for a discussion from the Autonomy Institute on campaigning on and with technology.

*(Congrats to Minderoo’s Gina Neff, who has just been appointed Professor of Responsible AI at QMUL in addition to her Minderoo role.)

Parly-vous data?

Parliament crammed a fair bit into the two weeks between summer recess and conference recess.

The Commons came back to a debate on technology in public services on Monday 2 September. It was an odd debate, in that there were several maiden speeches which (while interesting and often moving) didn’t necessarily focus on the task in hand (Labour’s Allison Gardner was an exception) and the Tory frontbench spent a lot of time on controversial civil service appointments (even prompting a Lib Dem MP to intervene). But there were some interesting passages in between the rhetoric you may already have heard from the new government, such as a (tiny) bit more detail on the National Data Library and a nice passage from Peter Kyle on how nothing is inevitable and we can shape the future (a point we’ve made in the past). I tried live-tweeting (on Bluesky), while the ODI have a summary.

Other major Commons developments included the election of select committee chairs. Chi Onwurah beat Labour colleague Dawn Butler to chair the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee (Labour tech stalwart Chi Onwurah to chair DSIT committee is how Public Technology wrote it up), while other particularly relevant results include Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Con) chairing the powerful Public Accounts Committee, Simon Hoare (Con) chairing Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs, Liam Byrne (Lab) chairing Business and Trade, and Caroline Dinenage (Con) remaining chair of Culture, Media and Sport. Members will be elected - within each party, according to the allocations which are based on the general election result - at some point.

The Commons also had their ballot for Private Member’s Bills, with 20 MPs being drawn. They’ll be thinking about what they’d like to put in their bills, which will be introduced on Wednesday 16 October. And on 11 September, there was a ministerial statement on the Government response to the Law Commission’s report on Digital Assets.

The Lords have also been busy… 3 September: Communications and Digital Committee hearing on digital competition, and a debate on the first report from the Covid Inquiry_ _which included some mentions of data… 4 September: a riot-related question from Lord Sikka (Lab) where debate touched on online misinformation… 5 September: a question on the Ability of current online safety legislation to regulate abuse, including racism, islamophobia, homophobia, and sectarianism, on social media platforms from Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)… 6 September: the introduction of (Con) Baroness (Charlotte) Owen’s Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill (she spoke to Channel 4 News)… 9 September: the introduction of (Lib Dem) Lord (Tim) Clement-Jones’ Public Authority Algorithmic and Automated Decision-Making Systems Bill (The Register have a write-up), and a debate on Improving the performance, independence and accountability of UK Regulators following a select committee report… 12 September: a question on ‘False information through electronic media’ from Lord Dubs (Lab)…

Coming up… in the Commons… 7 October: debate on the Darzi review… 16 October: DSIT questions… 17 October: DCMS questions… 24 October: Cabinet Office questions…

In the Lords… 9 October: Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate (non-affiliated) has a question on computer science in English universities… 14 October: Baroness (Floella) Benjamin (Lib Dem) has a question on the independent pornography review (commissioned by the previous government)… 15 October: Baroness (Shami) Chakrabarti (Lab) has a question on ‘The Council of Europe Framework Convention on artificial intelligence and human rights, democracy, and the rule of law’… 17 October: Lord (Chris) Holmes (Con) has a question on ‘Plans for regulation of Artificial Intelligence’…

Lords Communications and Digital Committee has a new inquiry, Scaling up - AI and creative tech - it’s accepting evidence until 16 October.

Something else to keep an eye on: expect to see more all-party parliamentary groups being set up over the coming weeks. APPGs are informal cross-party groups of parliamentarians interested in particular topics - some of them can be quite active, with events and even reports (and if nothing else may be useful for seeing which MPs and peers are interested in certain issues).

The Houses return on Monday 7 October.

AI got ‘rithm

Let’s start at global level, and it doesn’t get much more global than Final Report - Governing AI for Humanity (UN). The seven recommendations are an international scientific panel on AI, a twice-yearly policy dialogue on AI governance, an AI standards exchange, a capacity development network, a global fund for AI, a global AI data framework and an AI Office reporting to the UN Secretary General.

Also… US, Britain and Brussels to sign agreement on AI standards (FT)… UK signs first international treaty addressing risks of artificial intelligence (MoJ)… Commission signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and human rights, democracy and the rule of law (European Commission)… The Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence (Council of Europe)…

And… The Global AI Index 2024 (Tortoise)… The AI bill driving a wedge through Silicon Valley (FT)… Newsom sweetens a bitter AI pill (Politico California Playbook PM)… US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law - Oversight of AI: Insiders’ Perspectives… U.S. AI Safety Institute Signs Agreements Regarding AI Safety Research, Testing and Evaluation With Anthropic and OpenAI (NIST)… UK to bring global AI developers together ahead of AI Action Summit (DSIT)… China to require labels for AI-generated content as tech brings fresh challenges (SCMP)… AI Office received strong interest for participation in drafting the first General-Purpose AI Code of Practice (European Commission)… and an open letter! Europe needs regulatory certainty on AI (various businesses, including Meta)…

Some reading for you, with a new AI for public good collection from JRF, including: AI in public policy: history says balance scepticism and awe (Rory Weal), Public policymaking: from AI to decomputing (Dan MacQuillan), Frontier AI: double-edged sword for public sector (Zeynep Engin), Better results for less money: AI and synthesising knowledge (Will Moy), Will AI replace policymakers? (Dr María Pérez-Ortiz), Harder, better, faster, stronger - will AI improve public policymaking? (Imogen Parker), and, er, me on Definitions, digital, and distance: on AI and policymaking (Connected by Data contributed to the first collection too)… there’s also a new collection from the British Academy on What are the possibilities of a good digital society? (British Academy), including contributions from Network members, Rachel Coldicutt (People Not Code: The Case for a Digital Civil Society Observatory) and Anna Dent (Digital Social Security: Towards Disciplinary or Relational Futures?)… while the British Academy has also announced a series of new Innovation Fellowships to enable a researcher to work for a year at bodies such as the AI Safety Institute, Ofcom and DCMS…

Big AI… Billionaire Larry Ellison says a vast AI-fueled surveillance system can ensure ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ (Business Insider)… The Surveillance Dystopia Is Already Here (404 Media)… Introducing OpenAI o1-preview (OpenAI, see also this)… OpenAI Announces a New AI Model, Code-Named Strawberry, That Solves Difficult Problems Step by Step (Wired)… An update on our safety & security practices (OpenAI)… OpenAI Names Political Veteran Chris Lehane as Head of Global Policy (New York Times)… New data reveals exactly when the Chinese government blocked ChatGPT and other AI sites (Rest of World)… Building AI Technology for the UK in a Responsible and Transparent Way (Meta)… ICO statement in response to Meta’s announcement on user data to train AI (ICO)… Meta reignites plans to train AI using UK users’ public Facebook and Instagram posts (TechCrunch)… LinkedIn Is Training AI on User Data Before Updating Its Terms of Service (404 Media)… UK clears Microsoft’s partnership with Inflection AI (Reuters)…

Microsoft’s Hypocrisy on AI (The Atlantic)… AI is revitalizing the fossil fuels industry, and big tech has nothing to say for itself (Brian Merchant)… Data center emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse? (The Guardian)… A bottle of water per email: the hidden environmental costs of using AI chatbots (Washington Post)…

Yuval Noah Harari: What Happens When the Bots Compete for Your Love? (New York Times)… pick of Guardian reviews, positive or negative… William Hague references it, Democracy depends on taming tech giants (The Times)… The Atlantic also reviewed Yuval Noah Harari’s Apocalyptic Vision, as did the FT… and Wiley set to earn $44m from AI rights deals, confirms ‘no opt-out’ for authors (The Bookseller)… NaNoWriMo and AI Clash (404 Media)…

And… TIME100 AI 2024 (Time)… People are uncomfortable with AI replacing human judgement for high-stakes decisions (Ipsos)… The Subprime AI Crisis (Ed Zitron)… The breakthrough AI needs (The Economist)… Oprah’s upcoming AI television special sparks outrage among tech critics (Ars Technica)… ‘Hunger Games’ studio Lionsgate announce AI video deal (BBC)… Oxford launches Human-Centered AI Lab (University of Oxford)… AI-Enabled Influence Operations: Threat Analysis of the 2024 UK and European Elections (Cetas, Alan Turing Institute)… Inside the deepfake porn crisis engulfing Korean schools (BBC)… Here are the AI essentials that our experts are using, promoting and nervous about (Poynter)… AI’s solution to the ‘cocktail party problem’ used in court (BBC)… Begun, the open source AI wars have (The Register)… Nesta talks to… Karen Hao (Nesta)…

And finally… Dating apps develop AI ‘wingmen’ to generate better chat-up lines (FT)… and AI worse than humans in every way at summarising information, government trial finds (Crikey).

In brief

Here’s looking at EU Big news with new commissioners designated - Politico has the full lineup for the new EU Commission, and you can learn more about what they’ve all been tasked with on the European Commission website… the key figure on tech and data is new Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen (Finland), while Politico also highlights Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria) on research and innovation (though they think she could be one of The 5 commissioners most likely to get the chop); Michael McGrath (Ireland) on democracy, justice and rule of law (‘in charge of online consumer law, data protection and parts of the disinformation brief’); Teresa Ribera (Spain) on competition (including the Digital Markets Act); Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania) on defence (including defence tech); and Glenn Micallef (Malta) on culture (including AI and creative industries)… this is Who works for whom in the new EU power structure (Politico)…

There was an unexpected and more immediate personnel change, with Thierry Breton (commissioner for the internal market) resigning (after some BANTS on a platform he’s recently had some run-ins with)… Thierry Breton’s exit is a ‘good day for free speech,’ says Elon Musk’s henchwoman (Politico)… Vestager takes over internal market duties after EU Commissioner’s snap resignation (Copenhagen Post)… ‘Anyone but him’: Inside Ursula von der Leyen’s long breakup with Thierry Breton (Politico)…

And… EU competitiveness: Looking ahead (Draghi Report - European Commission)… European Commission scores stunning court win in €13B Apple tax row (Politico)… EU Commission demands Apple to align interoperability with digital competition rules (Euractiv)… Google wins EU antitrust fine fight but setback for Qualcomm (Reuters).

States of play Taylor Swift endorses Harris in post signed ‘Childless Cat Lady’ (BBC, includes a reference to Trump’s deepfakes)… How FTC chair Lina Khan became perhaps the country’s most ambitious, compelling, and controversial antitrust thinker in a generation (Fast Company)… The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case (Wired)…

Big tech In Leak, Facebook Partner Brags About Listening to Your Phone’s Microphone to Serve Ads for Stuff You Mention (Futurism)… A telltale clue reveals shady ads on Facebook and Instagram (Washington Post)… Content Moderation in a New Era for AI and Automation (Oversight Board)… Political leaders must push back against tech bullies (FT)… X vows to end harvesting of EU users’ personal data to train its AI (France24)… Racial hatred post did not break X rules (BBC)… Racism, misogyny, lies: how did X become so full of hatred? And is it ethical to keep using it? (Guardian)… X global affairs head Nick Pickles leaves social media company (FT - more, and their head of privacy has left too)… X says its return in Brazil after ban ‘inadvertent’ (BBC)… Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: Built-In Protections for Teens, Peace of Mind for Parents (Meta)… Instagram is putting every teen into a more private and restrictive new account (The Verge)… Our statement in response to Meta’s announcement to introduce teen accounts (ICO)… Facebook owner bans Russian state media networks (BBC)… In conversation with Nick Clegg: Can democracy survive the pace of technology? (Chatham House)…

And… No charge over spreading of Southport misinformation (BBC)… Digital exclusion in Wales: progress being made, but more action needed says Commissioner (Older People’s Commissioner for Wales)… For Tenants, AI-Powered Screening Can Be a New Barrier to Housing (Bloomberg)… My final techscape, and final article after 11 years at the guardian (Alex Hern)… 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki ‘surprised and disappointed’ by board resignations: Read the memo (CNBC)… Letter calling for better SME digitisation support (Enterprise Nation, techUK, CBI, FSB, Intuit, Sage, Xero).

What we’ve been up to

What everyone else has been up to

Events

Good reads

And finally:

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