Most organisations want to earn as much trust as they possibly can. But the goal isn’t maximum trust. It’s trust that matches what the system actually deserves, for each person, on each decision. Post 2 of 10, marking ten years of IF medium.com/writing-by-i...

how tech critiques tech - for @carolecadwalla.bsky.social and friends bvsveera.net/observer-dic...

Look mum, I'm in the Mirror www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

In 1908 the Lancet called for an 18+ age limit on reading in bed for U.K. children.

Puntcon 2026 will be on the 16th August with @billt.bsky.social www.disruptiveproactivity.com/2026/06/punt...

Every threat model is some asshole's business model.

Reading English NHS' plans to go digital-first via app including triage/diagnostic/clinical review services (things that benefit from images) then hearing Starmer's plans to ban ppl who haven't verified age from sending 'explicit' images is quite discombobulating digital.nhs.uk/blog/transfo...

as @robmanuel.b3ta.com‬ has noted, there was a lot of "you must get online" marketing in the early-ish years of the WWW - and before that, entire government campaigns to "make the most of the micro[computer]" in the 1980s. Yet neither Ofcom or DCMS have demanded a BBC LLM - sort it out you cowards!

an astonishing time-capsule of a world & way of life that, in many ways, no longer exists... (for younger readers - Dave Green was a "presenter of last resort" for niche digital channels when @danny.spesh.com wasn't available) youtu.be/IpLew7igK-w bsky.app/profile/rcla...

I'm infuriated because (a) the only pathways to report it describe it as a skill issue not a tech fault, (b) I'm a small biz owner who's wasted at least a working day over the last few months trying to do this, (c) I'm on govt Digital Inclusion Action Committee and...

Today I ‘interviewed’ Facebook whistleblower on stage at Hay…& she couldn’t say a word. Facebook took legal action to prevent her speaking. What pathetic, pointless vindictiveness. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Did someone in Parliament just have an email accident?

Late for #towelday, but I wrote this short appreciation of Douglas Adams and how encountering THE HITCH HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY as a child had an incalculable impact on my brain: www.hilobrow.com/2026/04/25/o...

As the Starmer government announces a ‘crackdown’ on teenagers accessing social media, FIPR are publishing our response to express deep concern with the proposals to implement strong Age Verification by default for online services. These will not only affect children, but all adults in the UK.

The case in question

Today on the 23rd May 1988, Section 28 was passed into law In 2026, we are witnessing an increase of copycat laws internationally + increasing censorship of the trans community in the UK This law impacted me Sign my petition for a public inquiry into the law petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

Imagine believing that an organisation you think is "an unalloyed force for good" is wrong in a singular instance that just happens to be the minority you have directed your personal hate project against, without this giving any cause at all for self-reflection

They may not be serious people, but they have a point. www.ft.com/content/9cc7...

Corporate power today is scary, but not new. In WHEN COMPANIES RULE, I recount its 400-year history from the East India Company to Amazon, what motivates the oligarchs who would be kings, and what we can do about them. Out in November, pre-order now: cup.columbia.edu/book/when-co...

I am going to give you all some advice from football fandom. When Streeting resigns - celebrate. Don't say 'let's wait and see if he runs and wins'. There will always be another 'result' to wait on. Another way it can go wrong. Celebrate the wins when they come. It is essential.

Remember when one of Wesley's junior Ministers led us to believe Palantir couldn't access identifiable patient data? Turns out that wasn't true.

ONS/Gov seem to have continued the old position that 1) ONS/Gov can do whatever they want with data (see ID cards linking) as public opinion / objections don’t matter, and 2) it’s a catastrophe if the public don’t respond to census/economic etc surveys. Pick one not both… bsky.app/profile/heta...

Northern English rail - let’s make it the Bernstein Line. Great idea: www.ft.com/content/ed86... Letter: A turnaround in the north of England economy

How the current rules should work bsky.app/profile/saml...

Pretty sure Iran has a straight.

Privacy's Defender My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance by Cindy Cohn mitpress.mit.edu/978026205124...

I muse on what it is about Palantir's business model that triggers my spidey sense ... backofmind.substack.com/p/brain-dono...

When we hit 1000 signatures on Friday it was a proper dream, to petition for a public inquiry into Section 28 We want to get to 10000 so we get a response from the Government. Can you help with direct sharing in your newsletter? Whatsapp groups? Posts? petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

I Decompiled the White House's New App buff.ly/JSFtAN8 The official White House Android app has a cookie/paywall bypass injector, tracks your GPS every 4.5 minutes, and loads JavaScript from some guy's GitHub Pages.

At @redpeppermag.bsky.social we work on a very tight budget, but *always* prioritise accuracy/ quality over quantity of articles With #Goodwin and #AI trending, here’s why fact-checking — of the most time labour-intensive tasks in journalism — is getting harder… and why we take it so seriously 🧵📰

Surprising to hear the new head of the IEA, Thatcher's favourite think tank, say that water privatisation hasn't worked.

hah

“Her daughter’s new student enrollment form was denied due to “license plate recognition software showing only Chicago addresses overnight” in July and August... “Although you are the owner on record of a house in our district, license plate recognition shows that is not the place where you reside.”

Who has got a good take on the ID cards consultation deprecating gov.uk for user services?

what I said in the Cambridge Development Corporation consultation www.disruptiveproactivity.com/2026/03/publ...

It's simple really, it's because he faced no real accountability for his actions.

this is quite a fun Parliamentary speech www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=20...

King Charles is taking no chances. Would you trust Trump to know the difference between the BBC and Channel 4 if your life depended on it?

Ministers plan linking patient data to benefit claims and employment statistics. As Streeting promises to make the NHS "accountable" for whether patients are in work by setting new targets for 'getting people back to work'. That NHSE (DHSC) Palantir contract should help www.ft.com/content/6943...

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Is Mandelson’s new nickname “The Dark Mr”?

For people who care about that sort of thing, the membership of the National Data Library Expert Advisory Group has been published today - including me www.gov.uk/government/g...

When Trump’s first term began, Bezos added a slogan to The Washington Post: ‘Democracy dies in darkness’ Media barons *always* have power to turn off the lights. There is no surprise here Support independent media; now, always

Imagine this being what finally leads to her downfall, getting got by the coastguard

Anyone playing with openclawd? I have an experiment to try and don’t really want to let it loose on my laptop. Ask it to suggest starting a thread to check all the erdos problems for solutions in the existing maths literature which aren’t generally known… @simonwillison.net

What happens when a major publisher passes off BBC-funded content as “exclusive” and tries to make its readers pay twice for it? Glad to see this particular fox being shot manchestermill.co.uk/why-the-mill...

And the thing that really bugs me about this proposal is that the debate has settled into the groove of making millions of teens and families change their behaviour and enforce new law, rather than a handful of companies