Just take a look at the countries that have similar controls in place to get an idea of how sinister this is:
Restrictions on these platforms as regards kids also planned for...
Austria
Denmark
France
Greece
Norway
Spain
I don't think any are planning North Korea, Russia, China or Iran levels of restrictions for their populations. None are prepared to sit back and wait for the industry to regulate themselves when it comes to what they do to children.
"Big tech" won't give two shits, they will probably love it because it will give them a nice easy unique ID for each person to hang their personalised advertising profiles off.
As far as tech companies are concerned, how would that be different from your IP address?
Just take a look at the countries that have similar controls in place to get an idea of how sinister this is:
Why was Australia omitted from this list?
Anyone else think todays announcement of social media ban for U16s is an attempt to nobble Andy Burnham?
Seems a very rushed and probably deeply unpopular course of action. Just the sort of 'look at the shit Labour are doing now' policy that will play into Reforms hand.
As far as I can make out this is an evolution dating back to 2020 with an NSPCC response published here
It is easily viewed as limiting the rights and anonymity of individuals, because it is limiting the rights and anonymity of individuals.
We do this all the time, financial information and addresses at companies house for directors, driving licences and number plates of cars as a publicly searchable database, GMC and other institutions for doctors and dentists and pharmacists likewise.
Well if this is his idea of saving his bacon then Starmer is even more delusional than I originally thought.
And yes the timing is entirely suspect although I'm not totally against it - just a rushed through; little-backed or considered plan when there's much bigger fish to fry.
This whole discontiguous approach to government is doing way more harm than good.
Burnham has a good lead in a couple of polls but he seriously needs to get his framing of what he might do if in government in order - for example flip-flopping over what nationalisation might mean etc.
This has been Starmer's approach and it's catastrophic . This sort of stuff does politicians no good. We prefer clean talking fixes with some positivity attached to them.
Labour's approach of coming to power with a negative misunderstanding to finances and a removal of support was one of the first red-flags. Do not repeat this Burnham.
Personally I think the voters will give Burnham the benefit of the doubt.
But it's the last chance saloon for Labour.
The thing is Rone, what deal’s been done with Labour Together/ThinkLabour considering Josh Simons’ involvement? It does possibly signal that they’re happy with Burnham ousting Keith if he carries on the project and not upsetting the proverbial applecart. Is a change of leader going to make a difference? I’m not sure.
As far as tech companies are concerned, how would that be different from your IP address?
Because, despite the classification of an IP address as "personal info" under GDPR, it is not unique to you. It belongs to a block, sometimes quite large blocks, owned by an ISP and can/will change depending on your location or internet.
IMEI, now that _is_ unique. That can be used to track what you do (if you use a mobile) and that's the sort of thing that FB/Meta tracks. Same with the biometrics/ID that Anthropic is hinting they might collect for their users now, it's you. If you want to use _that_ service, you're going to have to give a US tech company the sort of personal information that should be handled very, very carefully (under GDPR/NIS2) and yet people will probably just blindly hand it over because they want Claude.
Streeting has let it be known that there's going to be a leadership election next week, whatever happens in Makerfield tomorrow.
I hope to god that Andy Burnham does win , because if not then it'll be a Streeting leadership challenge that will fail, leaving Starmer in place even further weakened. If that ends up happening then the Labour Party is finished and they may as well give Farage the keys to number ten now
How the hell did we end up in this situation within 2 years of finally getting a labour government with a huge majority? Its a tragedy looking at such a completely wasted opportunity
There's a lot can change in two years, in case you'd not noticed. Badenoch and the Tories will reclaim a load of support they've lost to Reform over the next year. Hold the line.
Given that they're presently polling at 1-2% in the Makerfield by-election, I doubt it. The Tory press are desperately trying to tell everyone that 'the Tories are back' but there is absolutely no evidence to support that whatsoever. People's memories aren't that short. Despite her unbelievably smug demeanor, as her MPs and member's (a tiny audience) like her Reform-esque tone, the Tories are still polling at exactly where they were at the last election. She hasn't changed a thing, other than her own already over-inflated ideas of her own abilities
Well if this is his idea of saving his bacon then Starmer is even more delusional than I originally thought.
It will certainly fuel the surveillance state concerns many people have, that's for sure.
There's a lot can change in two years, in case you'd not noticed. Badenoch and the Tories will reclaim a load of support they've lost to Reform over the next year. Hold the line.
Now this is a post to revisit in 12 months time
It’s more important that they can be changed and masked. It’s another bit of info that helps identify what kind of user you are, but isn’t unique to you or your location. Anyway, tracking already happens, and can be avoided, but often with reduced service. Like so much with tech, the owners get a free rein from much of the public where governments do not. I think part of that comes down to California in the last century. But anyway… tech service provider says “you must be X age” no one blinks… government says “you just be X age” and some people are immediately up in arms.
how large can these blocks be?
Big. Think of a large number, then add a bit.
Microsoft "owns" AS8075 which gives them (*checks internet) 81,074,688 IPv4 addresses. The same AS has 1.1x10(31) IPv6 addresses.
ANYWAY... The main point here is that people in government rarely understand the technical details of this type of thing and frequently listen to people that have a vested intrest to help them form policy, be it energy policy, defence, healthcare, AI, you name it.
People's memories aren't that short.
True, but give it another 2 years. The Tories will be back. In certain regions. In others that vote isn't leaving Reform.
The "hold the line" idea is for the birds though... the idea of this Labour government being "steady" has been killed, not least by many key Labour politicians (Blair, Burham, Streeting, Mann, Robinson, Healy the list goes on). I suspect what will follow will be more chaotic, and few people will see anyone as a "safe pair of hands" come the next election (not Labour, not Tories, not anyone). So they'll go for the risky options. And after that it'll get even worse. If you think this government is poor... we ain't seen nothing yet.
Right... where's my morning cup of positivity... I need it...
