26 July 2016
The following is summary of the most recent IEEE Global Internet Governance Monitor report. To access the full reports containing additional details and other news items, please join the Internet Technology Policy Community on IEEE Collabratec.
In Europe this week the EUs telecoms regulatory body BEREC has reportedly received almost half a million responses as part of its net neutrality consultation. The large response signals the growing concern for net neutrality globally, as it mirrors the response to the American FCC in 2014. 22.07.16
On cybsersecurity it should be noted that Estonia is currently in talks with the UK to store national data, such as birth, banking, electoral and real estate records abroad. The decision has been taken by the Estonian government in response to fears of another mass cyber attack from Russia. The previous attack in 2007 digitally severed the Government from its citizens for almost three weeks.
Giovanni Buttarelli the European Data Protection Supervisor has published his official review of the ePrivacy Directive from the European Commission. The so called cookie law is expected to be amended by the end of the year in roder to conform with the new General Data Protection Regulation. Mr. Buttarelli hopes to maintain the protections within the ePrivacy directive in order to ensure that encryption and confidentiality are encouraged in digital communications.
In the US this week the White house has outlined the roles of federal agencies during significant cyber attacks. The system will also feature a five tier identification system for grading the severity of cyber attacks.
Elsewhere in the US the acquisition of Yahoo by telecoms giant Verizon has been criticized by several privacy groups. The Center for Digital Democracy has warned that the combination of the two companies will allow Verizon to track both the digital and physical presence of consumers. The reasoning being that Verizon can already track users on its phone and television platforms, with the Internet presence of Yahoo extending this capability further.
As the political convention period continues the Democratic party has outlined their party platform, which has incorporated a pledge to fight for greater net neutrality in the coming Congress. The official party platform also mirrors the previously announced communication policy platform of Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton.
In India this week there has been a significant shift in the governance of Indian electronics and technology. The new Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been given responsibility to manage India’s Unique Identification Authority of India and National Informatics Centre.
In Pakistan delegates at a major conference on privacy and freedom of speech called upon the government to make amendments to the Prevent of Electronic Crimes Act 2015. The delegates argued that presently the act does little to protect cyber privacy and should be scrapped, so as to avoid confusion with the Anti-Terrorism Act which covers the same areas.
The Chairman of Indian telecoms regulator TRAI has spoken at event for Telecoms regulators in the Asia Pacific region. During his speech Mr. Sharma warned his audience that regulators across the region were facing the same challenges between maintaining regulations and allowing for cyber security and net neutrality challenges to be faced.
From the global Internet organisations there were two significant announcements this week. ICANN has announced its plans to change the Root Zone Key Signing Key. The announcement includes the process by which the rollover will be conducted and details how the KSK rollover has been planned to avoid disruption. The other major announcement is the launch of a public consultation by ENISA, regarding their study on Digital Single Market for NIS products.