And now it’s Google’s turn, this time it’s privacy

Simon Davies, who writes a Blog called the Privacy Surgeon has today commented on the EU Commission’s latest intervention against Google. His article, Europe to Google: respect our laws or face the consequences details the actions taken by the EU’s regulators, led by France which has amongst the strongest data protection and privacy laws in the EU. His article’s title sums up his views as to what is happening.

I have been meaning to write up my views that Google may have jumped the shark, but it’ll have to wait ’till another day, meanwhile, here’s another piece of evidence. …

#FreeGary to stay in the UK

Today, Theresa May announced that she was prohibiting the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the United States on computer hacking charges. She did this via an announcement to the House of Commons which can be watched on www.parliamentlive.tv. I come to the conclusion that she’s a class act. I also watched her yesterday dealing with Parliamentary Questions on the #snooperscharter. PQs are difficult for the opposition, the government always gets the last word, and so with only one intervention it can be desperately hard to get one’s point across; it’s too easy for a Minister to ignore the question and answer one they want too. Today she announced, in an hour long question and answer session that

  1. she was exercising her right of prerogative to stop the McKinnon extradition
  2. she was going to introduce new procedures to ensure that British Citizens get to be prosecuted in the UK for crimes committed in the UK
  3. she was not planning to demand that the US, (or other extradition counterparties) present their evidence to UK courts
  4. she would seek to end politician’s role in extradition process

Her decision is taken because on review of the evidence she believes that McKinnon’s Human Rights would be breached if he were to be extradited to the US. She has received medical evidence that he was a significant suicide risk and his European Convention , Article 3 rights, the right to life would be at risk.

I am deeply unsure that this makes good or fair law.

She has abdicated the fundamental tests of extradition, that it must be a serious crime in both states to the courts; the treaty prohibits that British Courts from evaluating the evidence to determine if there is a British legal case to answer, the Home Secretary can now only use prerogative to defend a suspects Human Rights, and she wants to give that away.

Despite this most MPs on both sides of the house seemed pleased, although some Labour MPs raise the issue of Babar Ahamd and Syed Talha Ahsan who may have both benefited from forum bars since their alleged illegal acts cannot have taken place in the USA; they have never been there. Despite this, their families expressed their solidarity with McKinnon and his family.  Only Alan Johnson MP raised the issue that when the medical evidence was reviewed in an open court, it rejected the arguments that McKinnon was too ill to face trial, or punishment, in the USA.

Keith Vaz made a good argument that the British Courts should evaluate if there is sufficient evidence that there is a case to answer, and that politicians should keep the prerogative power to ensure that extraordinary clemency in the case of McKinnon or extraordinary vengence in the case of Pinochet can remain part of the system. (Although the last case didn’t work so well, did it; but that’s because Jack Straw left it to the judges.)

Yvette Cooper made a very balanced speech, welcoming the ruling, offering parliamentary help in sensible reform of the extradition laws and asking what precedents this created both for international pursuit of computer criminals and for others currently under threat of extradition, including Richard O’Dwyer. No answers were forth coming on the latter two questions.

For more on the Mckinnon case, read this at the Guardian and this, from David Allen Green in the New Statesman, who documents the changing arguments of the Mckinnon defence.

I wish Richard O and Julia the best, but I don’t think the law reform proposed will be quick enough, although McKinnon dragged it out for 10 years, so there’s still hope, but I think May closed doors for Richard today.

ooOOOoo

Does anyone know if Richard can have the extradition hearing reviewed; I still stand to the view that what he did isn’t a crime in the UK and so he shouldn’t have to face trial in the USA.

The Director of Public Prosecutions must now decide if there is a case to answer in the UK and if it’s in the public interest to prosecute. Do we then need to see if anyone will seek to bring a private prosecution if they decide not. …

The Right to Work

At the Tory Party conference, the Chancellor, George Osborne proposes legislation that will allow employers to “buy” employment protection rights in exchange for shares. Better read and experienced economists than I are writing about how the threat of dismissal will lead to talent leaving; it's always the confident and good that go first. The Trade Unions are also quick to comment. I just want to mention four points which might otherwise be missed. ...

#lab12 conference diary

#lab12 Despite being a member of the Labour Party for 38 years, I have never been to conference before; I have just returned from Manchester, where I attended for 2½ days. It was rather fun, jolly useful and thanks to some of the people I met, inspiring.

I got there late-ish on Sunday and met up with my comrades from Lewisham Deptford CLP, including @vickyfoxcroft, @joe_dromey, @joeperryuk, @mjrharris and @Len_Duvall in a bar near the conference centre. I had been disappointed that the conference and fringe running order had not been sent to me until after I bought my train ticket. This meant I missed part one of the shenanigans and the debate on “Refounding Labour” which I had wanted to attend. After the Lewisham meetup, I moved on to the New Statesman party. I think as a subscriber, I should have had an invite, I didn’t, but anyway, I got in OK. I met up with one of their staff, and expressed my views that I didn’t want to pay to read Dan Hodges and could they stop publishing his stuff. I was advised to write to the Editor, Jason Cowley, with that view, but I can’t find his email or twitter handle! Poor show! …