Vikram Dodd reports: A powerful committee of MPs is likely to hold a formal hearing into allegations that a government anti-extremism programme is being used to gather information on innocent Muslims. The home affairs select committee meets on Tuesday and will discuss widening its inquiry into the £140m Preventing Violent Extremism scheme, also known as…
Privacy law established by stealth in Britain, report says
Robert Verkaik reports: Britain has established a privacy law by stealth which has made inroads into all parts of society, a leading human rights law review shows today. The use of legal arguments based on the claimant’s right to a private life were once almost exclusively restricted to cases brought by celebrities against newspaper groups,…
Jury’s $1.8 million verdict a call for privacy rights
Ameet Sachdev reports: In the summer of 2005 Kathy Lawlor’s dad showed her a white envelope he retrieved from his neighbor’s garbage can, deposited there by a man Lawlor suspected had been following her. “Probe” was typed in the return address field. Next to it was a picture of an eye that looked to Lawlor…
When 2+2 Equals a Privacy Question
Natasha Singer writes: Time to revisit the always compelling — and often disconcerting — debate over digital privacy. So, what might your movie picks and your medical records have in common? How about a potentially false sense of control over who can see your user history? While Netflix and some health care concerns say they…