One to watch. It's almost 10 years old but remains as relevant as ever to the UK human rights debate - What has the ECHR ever done for us? - the right to a fair trial - the right to privacy - Freedom from discrimination - the Good Friday Agreement, and so on www.theguardian.com/culture/vide...

Happy Birthday to the European Convention on Human Rights, which has helped to protect #OurRightsAndFreedoms for 75 years. Here are more than 200 examples, from across the continent👇 🔗 www.coe.int/ECHR There are thousands more. #ECHR #ECHR75 @coe.int @echr.coe.int

Just to be clear, it IS about removing rights. Specifically it’s about removing Article 8 rights - private and family life - to make it easier to deport people. You won’t find advocates able to mention any other rights here.

One to watch. How far will the scope of the ICO investigation apply? More than one public body is involved. The Home Office shared the inaccurate dataset with the HMRC. Was the private sector also involved? Eg, the airlines sharing travel data or passenger name data, or another third party?

Not a huge surprise - HMRC may have breached privacy laws with their child benefit suspension mess. Can we do the same investigation for DWP fraud detection now please?

New from Free Movement: Two more immigration lawyers facing potential disciplinary proceedings for misuse of AI | Sonia Lenegan freemovement.org.uk/two-more-imm...

📣 Join us 9-12 June in Lille, France for the 11th @survstudiesnet.bsky.social / Surveillance & Society Biennial Conference 2026 & submit your abstract before 10 January 2026! Theme is Planetary #surveillance Check out the call for abstracts here: surveillance-studies.net/conference/

Huge mess up by HMRC here but you also have to wonder which other organisations Home Office are sharing this error-ridden border data about individuals with?, how its being shared (copies? Held internally but queried?), whether limitations/errors are clear &c&c? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

NEW: The number of phones being searched at the US border just hit another high - 16,000 devices were searched in the last three months—a record high for a quarter - 55,000 in the fiscal year 2025 (Oct-Sept)—a yearly record high Story with @dell.bsky.social here: www.wired.com/story/cbp-se...

A reminder that the UK’s ban on LGBT people serving in the armed forces was only lifted after a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights. 🔗 www.bbc.com/news/article... via www.bbcnews.com #ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms #Article8 #PrivateLife #MeddlingForeignCourt #CreditWhereItsDue

📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms). It’s also concerning. 1/

Another shocking example of an AI system being misused (in the US). In addition to the completely unjustified violation of the teenager’s privacy and due process rights, there has been a chilling effect on going outside in case of further right violations. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results: - AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2% - ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1% - ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%

The biggest source for any DSA investigation into addictive design features might not be platforms' risk assessments, but the more than 6 million documents that are part of the pretrial discovery process in the US www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Some politicians and commentators continue to talk our great city down. The facts show a very different picture.

"The chances of #AGI’s arrival by 2027 now seem remote. The government has let #AI companies lead a charmed life, with almost zero #regulation. It now ought to enact legislation that addresses costs and harms unfairly offloaded onto the public." ~ @garymarcus.bsky.social

Turing Award laureate Rich Sutton now critiques pure LLMs—echoing @garymarcus.bsky.social . Time to move beyond science fiction and refocus on scientific rigour. #AI #LLM #Neurosymbolic #RichSutton #GaryMarcus garymarcus.substack.com/p/game-over-...

Is AI really on an exponential curve, or is that hype? @garymarcus.bsky.social argues GPT-5 proves the curve has flattened. Scaling isn’t delivering exponential gains anymore and the field is shifting to smaller or hybrid models. Are we past exponential AI, or just in a slowdown? #academisky #ai

The war zone in Portland is out of control.

BREAKING: Immigration officers in the Chicago area will be required to wear body cameras after the use of tear gas and other actions against protesters, a judge rules.

I’m so tired of people just believing generative AI systems “will get better.” We have no reason to believe that. And we now have an OpenAI paper showing they can’t. The problem with LLMs is LLMs. www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

Ahead of the 20 Oct deadline for responding to Ofcom’s proactive technology consultation, a reminder of how the government has translated ‘safety by design’ into upload filtering. #OnlineSafetyAct www.cyberleagle.com/2024/12/safe...

The European Convention on Human Rights is being misrepresented in the UK, says former Supreme Court President Lady Hale👇 🔗 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home... via @the-independent.com “It seems so short-sighted. I’m sorry, I’m really, really worried about it.” #ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms

Huge privacy intrusions of vulnerable patients supposed to receive one-to-one care. But an inquest heard the Oxevision surveillance system was muted by staff in one case where the patient was left alone for 28 minutes. Surveillance also lacked patients’ consent. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, said that the current legal framework allows UK authorities to “impose excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression, and risk overpolicing” in a letter sent to the home secretary.’

Is AI actually a sound social investment? Or a net drain of value? Come to Edinburgh and help us @braiduk.bsky.social develop a more holistic and rigorous methodology for measuring AI’s real worth!

“Good Hang with Amy Poehler” is perhaps the comedian’s biggest platform since “Parks and Recreation,” and the mega-popular podcast still leans into Leslie Knope’s vibes: sunniness, earnestness, a focus on female friendship and uncomplicated feminist values.

US news outlets refuse to sign new Pentagon rules to report only official information www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Excellent Guardian piece on Aadhar, India's digital ID system, that captures the dilemma extremely well. Digital-by-default methods create huge convenience for some, double-down on social exclusion for others, and it is easy for their scope to rapidly expand www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Very excited for all the debate and discussion on the right to privacy in an era of AI, surveillance, data retention with this stellar panel: Prof David Feldman (University of Cambridge) Prof Orla Lynskey (UCL) James Baker (Harvard) Robert Spano (Former President of ECtHR) Hope you can join us!

Only 2 days to go! Join us on Wednesday for a timely discussion on the themes and findings of the book - EU Data Privacy Law and Serious Crime. @ials.bsky.social @nniloideain.bsky.social

One person's spam campaign is another person's democratic engagement. In any case, they know how to make it stop 😁 But a wonderful example of how just one person's wit and skill can make a big difference. Bravo! www.politico.eu/article/one-...

RIP Diane Keaton. Nobody has ever looked as good in cream knitwear as you did in Something's Gotta Give.

On the limits of AI (specifically ChatGPT5 Plus). It was asked for an English translation of a French judgment. That was Wednesday. It is now Day 4. But have been reassured (multiple times) that it just needs 20minutes … For industry overpromises, sentient AI really isn’t as close as promised.

Today’s update from the Independent Office for Police Conduct around accelerated misconduct proceedings is unprecedented and sends a clear message that any officers who display the kind of behaviour we saw on Panorama will face serious consequences - fast.

Thiel "argued that those who propose limits on technology development not only hinder business but threaten to usher in the destruction of the United States and an era of global totalitarian rule, according to the recordings."

Civil society and human rights defenders are facing alarming trends across Europe, warns the Council of Europe’s #HumanRights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty👇 🔗 www.coe.int/en/web/commi... @coe.int @commissionerhr.coe.int

the EU parliament is looking for a native-level irish speaker for a press officer traineeship, starting next march it's paid (€1660/month, no tax) and is a pretty sweet opportunity to see how the EU sausage is made, and a chance to try brussels (if you're not already here) deadline end of october!

Former UK Supreme Court President on leaving the #ECHR: “It would be a disaster for Europe… it’s one of the greatest achievements of European civilisation since the Second World War. The Convention put into language the rights everybody ought to have.” 🔗 www.scottishlegal.com/articles/bar...

very interesting what is not allowed these days. in this case, basic archiving of real videos www.404media.co/apple-banned...

Police arrest man based on his ChatGPT prompts. Did they issue a warrant to OpenAI, did company give notice to the accused? How was the prompt “found?”

A must-watch. Short but excellent critique of: - what ‘AI Slop’ is - how it is damaging the integrity and reliability of online information and creative industries - how AI (not AI slop) can be used as a useful tool Suitable for children and adults of all ages: m.youtube.com/watch?v=_zfN...

Michigan Avenue right now.

"America has become one big bet on AI," writes Ruchir Sharma. Better not go wrong.... on.ft.com/3KUg7z8

BoE flags risk of ‘sudden correction’ in tech stocks inflated by AI on.ft.com/3WqHK5t

I am stealing and using this on every AI presentation I give for the rest of the year and I’m not even a little bit sorry

my dog and his girlfriend would like to go bluesky official

Palantir has pulled out of involvement with the UK Digital ID card, according to an interview with their UK CEO on Times Radio. They’re concerned about the reputational damage of being involved with an unpopular Starmer policy.

“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..” @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The scenes out of Chicago should outrage us all. These federal agents are out of control, committing senseless acts of violence & putting everyone at risk.   American citizens are being detained & brutalized.   This kind of immigration "enforcement" shouldn't be acceptable to anyone.