Category Archives: Computers

EU cookie directive and UK law: legislation instead of education

It seems that we are returning to the bad old days of constant pop ups online, due to a rather heavy handed law which came into effect recently in the UK. The new law is contained in the memorably titled, Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. Wading through them is a bit of a chore, so the Information Commissioner’s Office has produced a handy video with the frequently asked questions answered. It is mind numbingly boring:

At the heart of the decision by the EU overlords is a widespread concern that predatory corporations are tracking our every move, cleverly calculating how much toilet paper we use to scrape the shit off our arses and generally invading our privacy in ever more insiduous ways.

Now, every website is supposed to obtain your permission to invade you like this. As you will have noticed, some have obtained it by forcing you to click on something whenever you visit their site. You’ll also have seen that many others do not do this. That is because they (and me, currently) are not in compliance with the new regulation. This blog uses cookies. It is also designed to be user friendly, which is more than I could say for many places online, including oddly enough many newspapers. The commonly used methods for obtaining consent for cookies are ugly and consequently counterproductive. I’m looking around for a more practical solution to comply with the new law. I’m also hoping that the law might be amended :-) Here’s a neat video on the topic.

Forcing web users to click away consent is largely meaningless. How many times did you read the terms and conditions on some software you bought? (I’ll save my rant about not buying proprietary software and going open source until another day). For most people, the answer to that question is, “never“. We just want to get to where we wanted to go. The days of an individual consumer agreeing contract terms with an individual supplier are so distant that they might properly be described as ancient legal history. Thus we have brought in various pieces of consumer protection law. This new cookie law is a particularly vapid form of protection for web consumers. Practically, it does nothing to protect them, little to educate them and much to annoy them.

One solution would be persuade the major browser manufacturers to change their default settings so that all cookies are deleted on exit. Then the user can change their settings according to their personal taste. For example, they may find it convenient to remember password data for some sites. The problem with this approach is that there are vast numbers of people and organisations using old browsers which they persistently refuse to update.

When you walk into a pub and buy a pint of ale (something I will never do again), you don’t have to sign a form to say that you understand that there might be some alcohol in the glass. Similarly, with the internet, when you surf you should know that you are being watched by a thousand Big Brothers but you have choices about what data you allow them to collect. When you buy the pint, that’s when you give your consent. When you visit Friday Ad to pursue your evil habit of buying pets on the open market, you should realise that your animal fetish is being watched very carefully via various pieces of tracking software, including AddThis, AdJug, AdMeld, AppNexus, DoubleClick, Evidon Notice, Facebook Connect, Facebook Social Plugins, Google +1, Google Adsense, Google Analytics, Media Innovation Group, Open X, ScoreCard Research Beacon, Turn, Twitter Button.

The purple box in this image shows all the tracking software.

The purple box in this image shows all the tracking software. Click to enlarge.

The real solution lies in education. People need to understand how the web works. They don’t need to be able to code it but they must understand the basics. I have set my browser options so that it automatically gives or refuses consent to cookies according to my personal preferences. Everyone can do that. This new regulatory approach forces me and my visitors to make that choice again. That is stupid and grossly inefficient. Virtually no-one is going to change their behaviour because of this law. They are just going to click through, except they will become irritated along the way.

If the purpose of the law was simply to educate people about the data mining carried out on them, an educational campaign would have been more appropriate. If the purpose of the law was to enable people to change their behaviour according to taste, an educational campaign would have stood more chance of success. The rationale of this law escapes me completely. If it truly is so important for consumers to give consent to data miners, everyone should sign off a consent form every time they use a plastic card to buy goods at a supermarket, to allow the supermarket to record what you buy. Absurd.

In Texas, if you get away with violence against children for five years, you get away

The Guardian quotes the victim in this unpleasant video pointing out, “He’s supposed to be a judge who exercises fit judgment.” Some bloggers have posted this video with a warning. I don’t think any warning is appropriate. Domestic violence is common place. One of the reasons it hasn’t gone away is because we don’t talk about it. We hide it away. Our society covers it up.

The Judge in this video has ceased hearing child abuse cases but still sits judgment on everything else. Bully for him. His name is Judge William Adams and this is what he has said about this video:

My name is William A. Dudley.

The statement which follows has been reviewed and approved for circulation by Judge William Adams. The seven year old video presently circulating the internet and now made the basis of international media attention, showing two parents disciplining their 16 year old daughter, who had been caught, by her own televised and internet reported admissions, engaged in repeated criminal activity, was posted for reasons other than as professed by the publisher.

It is regrettable that Hillary Adams, a bright and gifted person, would include in her post that she is or was a disabled or a special needs child. As multiple media appearances clearly demonstrate, Hillary Adams is articulate, possesses a superior IQ, and is capable of functioning as a productive adult in today’s complex society. No one should take the affliction of cerebral palsy lightly. Hillary’s parents did not. Hillary’s condition was monitored as a child and her medical needs met. However, neither should a perfectly capable adult try to use an affliction as a device for media sympathy. It should now be apparent to the world that “disabled” was mislabeled. In response to the internet post, the media has appropriately attempted to understand why Hillary Adams chose the present time to disseminate the video. To many, her answers to those questions have been confusing and hollow. As she has said by recent interview, she “hoarded” the secret tape for future use, but has not explained, even now, for what purpose. Very few people find palatable her claim that it was to “help” her father.

Perhaps Hillary Adams should explain, if she felt she was raised by a tyrannical father, a claim shared with no one until five years after adulthood, why she insisted on living with her father and not her mother from the time of her parent’s divorce, until she moved out on her own. Hillary Adams has been living on her own for some time, and has been an adult for almost six years, so why post the video in late 2011?

William Adams is of the opinion that Hillary Adams is an extremely bright, highly functional, adult. The media has described her as a piano prodigy, who has competed at Carnegie Hall on multiple occasions. As one of Hillary’s long term teachers noted in the press, Hillary, so close to accomplishment, has of recent “inexplicably dropped out, just two classes shy of completing her [college] studies.”

The video in question was recorded well before Hillary graduated high school. If the public must know, just prior to the You Tube upload, a concerned father shared with his 23 year old daughter that he was unwilling to continue to work hard and be her primary source of financial support, if she was going to simply “drop out”, and strive to achieve no more in life than to work part time at a video game store. Hillary warned her father if he reduced her financial support, and took away her Mercedes automobile, which her father had provided, he would live to regret it. The post was then uploaded. The public may wonder if this is the tyranny of which Hillary Adams speaks as her reason to disseminate the video seven years after it was recorded, and five years into adulthood? Is this the reason she “hoarded” the video for seven years?

William Adams regrets the interruption and inconvenience his daughter’s post has caused to the Aransas County, Texas community. Judge Adams is confident that when the dust settles and international media attention has passed, and the work ahead, whether civil, criminal, or administrative has taken it’s full course and has been fully developed, with an opportunity for all sides to ask and answer relevant questions, it will be concluded that Hillary Adam’s actions in 2011 were misguided and misleading.

Judge Adams regrets, if true, that his daughter believes he is in need of healing from the family divorce. Divorce is certainly traumatic, and takes a significant toll on all, especially children. Judge Adams is of the opinion that Hillary’s gesture is little more than a much needed but hard to believe explanation of why she chose to post the video.

If this entire event was a plea for help and healing, the methodology is certainly unorthodox. Judge Adams, who among other reasons, still has a minor daughter to consider, chooses to involve the media as little as possible whilst personal family matters are sorted through. The public may ponder what consideration Hillary Adams gave her little sister before subjecting the entire family to world-wide microscopic scrutiny, and permanent consequences. It is Judge Adams’ civic responsibility to respond to whatever investigations may result from a revelation of the disciplinary actions resorted to by his former wife and him on the viral video.

Those investigations will require answers to many questions raised by the media and public and for which no appropriate forum has been chosen to date. He is confident the process will be managed in accordance with the law. For the sake of his family, co-workers, and Aransas County officials who must endure the additional work and expense, he wishes that the process not be played out daily on a national stage.

Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

Linux v IBM v Mac

Which one are you?

IT Charities for Africa

Spent part of the afternoon in conversation with an IT charity worker, whilst helping a pal audit some machinery. This fellow, who I won’t name for political reasons, pointed me to various so called charities which take donated computers from the UK and give them to African wholesalers, with the result that they end up in shops rather than schools. I’ll be posting more information on this FAIL! later this week but in the meantime, here is a plea: please check out who you donate machines to! Not all bona fide charities in this country have properly established supply chains in their destination countries. There are dozens of these organisations, some good, some not. Details to follow.