Notices by Open Rights Group (openrightsgroup@social.openrightsgroup.org)

🔔 NEXT WEEK 🔔

Hear from ORG's @sarahalsherif on how pervasive data-sharing creates a digital hostile environment.

Sign up for the 'Oversharing Migrants' Data and the Narrative of the Harm' workshop. #StandUpSpeakOut

🗓️ 15 May
🕔 5–6pm BST
💻 Online

https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/suso2025

#migrants #dataprotection #surveillance #privacy #digitalhostileenvironment

We're hiring 🚀

ORG is on the look out for an expert AI Policy Consultant.

Get in touch if you're interested in helping us to produce and define a clear position for NGOs and civil society groups on a future UK AI Bill.

#jobs #AI #digitalrights

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/ai-policy-consultant/

Wikipedia are going to court over the UK Online Safety Act!

Saddling platforms with hefty duties and penalties under the new regime will cause many safe sites to fold.

We can't lose the best of the web due to laws that were meant to tackle the worst of it.

#SaveOurSites

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j2gr8866o

#OnlineSafetyAct #OSA #NetPlurality #ukpol #ukpolitics #wikipedia #freedomofexpression

Data privacy is a matter of safety for survivors of modern slavery, domestic abuse and gender-based violence.

ORG backs Siân Berry MP's amendment to the UK Data Use and Access Bill. This will introduce a statutory complaints procedure with the Information Commissioner's Office and right of appeal to the Information Tribunal for people in vulnerable situations.

Find out more ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/i-was-failed-by-the-ico-data-bill-amendment-could-help-survivors-of-abuse/

#dataprotection #privacy #gdpr #DataBill #DUABill #ukpolitics #ukpol

Outlook not so good 🎱

Police tech doesn’t predict crime. It predicts policing.

Based on biased data, it brings more of the same – racist policing and poverty punishment.

Read our latest blog on why crime 'predicting' police tech must be BANNED ⬇️

#SafetyNotSurveillance

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/why-predictive-policing-must-be-banned/

#policing #AI #precrime #justice #criminal #police #ukpol #ukpolitics #surveillance

This year, ORG published a report into the canvassing apps used by UK Political Parties.

In the rush for a competitive advantage, the Parties are cutting corners with data protection and voter privacy may be put at risk of commercial exploitation.

Read more ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/moral-hazard-voter-data-privacy-and-politics-in-election-canvassing-apps/

#dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #data #ukpolitics #ukpol #election #localelection

With the UK Local Elections tomorrow, we ask how voter data is used on the campaign trail.

Behind door knocks and leaflet drops, data is the driving force in systems that profile, segment and target voters.

So, how much do they know about you?

Read more in our latest blog ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/what-do-political-parties-really-know-about-you/

#dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #data #ukpolitics #ukpol #election #localelection

There's a Data Arms Race to win elections.

Data paints a picture of who we are, our values, our interests. This is used to predict how likely we are to vote and who for.

Political Parties use these profiles to tailor messaging and target resources in ways that can pollute the democratic process.

#dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #data #ukpolitics #ukpol #election #localelection

Voters still have power over their data. But rights must be given effect.

When people used our tools to make a Subject Access Request or opt-out of profiling, no UK Political Party performed well.

Respecting voter privacy must be a key part of rebuilding trust and protecting electoral integrity.

#dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #data #ukpolitics #ukpol #election #localelection

All UK Parties rely on international companies for their digital campaigning infrastructure.

Labour is particularly close with Experian – a credit reference agency with extraordinary powers to harvest personal data.

The lack of transparency leaves us with questions about the lawfulness of how data is separated and shared.

#dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #data #ukpolitics #ukpol #election #localelection

While profiling by race has declined, voters are still profiled using wealth and income indicators, plus data of who voted in past elections.

If you're scored as unlikely to vote, you probably won't be contacted at all.

Such profiling leads to a vicious cycle of disenfranchisement rooted in class.

#dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #data #ukpolitics #ukpol #election #localelection

With over 1600 pages of guidance on Online Safety duties, Ofcom (UK) has dealt a sucker punch to small blogs, forums and fedi instances.

Onerous duties with the threat of fines has led to many sites shutting down already.

Only the largest companies that engineer harms can realistically comply.

#SaveOurSites

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/24/ofcom-rules-protect-keep-children-safe-online

#onlinesafetyact #ofcom #onlinesafety #netplurality #freedomofexpression #fediverse #mastodon #ukpolitics #ukpol

Meta harvests personal data to track users' behaviour and make assumptions about them, so it can sell targeted adverts.

Surveillance-based advertising conceals a predatory marketplace behind a facade of personalisation.

This is being weaponised to deceive, divide and inflict harm, simply by disguising criminal adverts behind harmless-looking pages.

#StopStalkerAds

#meta #Facebook #dataprotection #data #privacy #gdpr #adtech #advertising #surveillancecapitalism #migrants #ukpolitics #ukpol

ORG's report shows that Facebook pages disguised as gaming communities are being used to target migrants with illegal services.

These findings expose a stark reality:

🔴 Even after public scandal and media scrutiny, Meta's systems are still enabling fraudsters to prey on migrants.

#StopStalkerAds

#meta #facebook #dataprotection #privacy #data #adtech #gdpr #data #advertising #surveillancecapitalism #migrants #ukpolitics #ukpol

NEW: ORG investigation reveals Meta enables vulnerable people to be targeted with disinformation and fraudulent ads.

With ads offering fake identity documents still running on Facebook, Meta is profiting from the global migrant crisis.

Read more about our report on Meta's surveillance capitalism advertising model ⬇️

#StopStalkerAds

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/new-report-how-meta-is-monetising-the-migrant-crisis/

#meta #facebook #dataprotection #adtech #privacy #gdpr #data #advertising #surveillancecapitalism #migrants #ukpolitics #ukpol

BREAKING: The UK government's attempt hold the Apple encryption case entirely in secret has been REJECTED.

ORG, Big Brother Watch and Index on Censorship made a submission to the court arguing for open justice.

In a win for privacy rights, the court agrees.

It said it didn't accept “that the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security”.

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/ipt-supports-orgs-call-for-open-hearing-in-apple-encryption-case-uk/

#apple #encryption #e2ee #ukpolitics #ukpol #privacy

Is the UK government building an ID system by stealth with the gov.uk wallet?

Companies in the digtial ID sector think so.

Creating a portal that all our interactions with government have to go through could evolve into national identity database with considerable implications for our privacy.

https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Computer-Weekly-Editors-Blog/Distrust-builds-between-digital-ID-sector-and-government-amid-speculation-over-ID-cards-by-stealth

#privacy #ID #ukpolitics #ukpol

NEW: The UK government has published its Cyber Security Bill and there are glaring holes.

Missing:

🔴 Protections for encryption.
🔴 Reduction of our dependence on US corporations for vital UK government infrastructure, such as through open source software.

Read our response ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/org-response-to-cyber-security-bill/

#cybersecurity #cybersecuritybill #security #encryption #opensource #ukpolitics #ukpol

Meta has admitted that users have the right opt-out of stalker ads. Now what for our data rights?

Join our webinar to explore the impact of
Tanya O'Carroll's case against Meta.

🗓️ Wed 16 April
🕕 6–7.30pm BST
📍 Zoom

Register Now ➡️ https://www.openrightsgroup.org/events/webinar-taking-on-meta-what-next-for-our-data-stalker-ads/

#StopStalkerAds

#meta #dataprotection #gdpr #surveillanceadvertising #surveillancecapitalism #adtech #privacy #facebook

Four years ago, human rights campaigner Tanya O’Carroll took on social media giant Meta when they refused to stop collecting and processing her personal data for targeted advertising.

In March 2025, Meta settled and agreed to honour O’Carroll’s right to object.

Now it's your turn to opt-out.

Use our tool to #StopStalkerAds (UK residents) ⬇️

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/meta-opt-out

#meta #facebook #instagram #threads #dataprotection #gdpr #privacy #surveillanceadvertising #surveillancecapitalism #adtech