Category Archives: Britain

Britain, European Union, Google, Government, Technology

Google told its privacy rules are illegal…

Britain’s data protection watchdog has said that Google’s privacy rules are illegal and leave internet users in the dark about how their personal details will be used.

Google’s latest guidelines, published last year, are ‘baffling’ and must be overhauled, the Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled.

The online search giant will face ‘formal enforcement’ such as a fine of up to £500,000 or a court order if it does not change its privacy rules by September 20.

The company has already received similar warnings from data protection authorities in France and Spain.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said Google’s updated privacy policy raises serious questions about its compliance with the UK Data Protection Act. In particular, it believes that the updated policy does not provide sufficient information to enable UK users of Google’s services to understand how their data will be used across all of the company’s products. The ICO says that Google must now amend their privacy policy to make it more informative for individual service users.

This is not the first time Google has been castigated by the ICO. The company was told just last month to delete snooping data it illegally harvested from British families or face criminal action.

Last year Google sought to make its privacy policies across its various internet interfaces, including YouTube and G-Mail, simpler.

Separate documents on how it would use data collected from each of its websites were condensed into a single file. But the ICO said the details were watered down, and ordinary people would have no idea after reading the file how their personal details, such as email addresses or website viewing history, would be used by Google.

The Data Protection Act, which the ICO says is breached by Google’s current policy, seeks to safeguard the personal information of internet users.

The Act rules that personal information gathered must be stored securely, must not be kept for longer than is necessary, and must not be transferred to an organisation in another country.

Google’s privacy policy states: ‘We collect information to provide better services to all of our users – from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful or the people who matter most to you online.’

Google says that its privacy policy respects European law and allows the company to create simpler, more effective services. It also says it is fully engaged with the authorities on this issue.

Previously, the company had been branded ‘immoral’ by MPs for avoiding the payment of British taxes and funnelling profits to an offshore tax haven in Bermuda.

Privacy campaigners have also expressed concerns. Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group, said that this is the latest confirmation that consumers are being kept in the dark about what data on us Google collects and how that data is used.

A statement issued by Big Brother Watch, said:

… The main issue is that sanctions must be strong enough to make Google take real action, rather than the previous meagre penalties that are seen as a cost of doing business.

… Regulators around the world must ensure that concrete steps are taken to uphold rights and stop Google routinely trampling on our privacy.

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Britain, Defence, Government, Scotland

Lib Dems say Trident should be replaced on the cheap…

TRIDENT

A senior Liberal Democrat within the UK coalition government has suggested that Britain should ‘move on from the Cold War postures of the past’ and get by with a cut-price nuclear deterrent.

Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander said a government review had identified ‘alternatives’ to a full like-for-like replacement of the Trident deterrent.

The review was ordered because of a Coalition split over the £20 billion cost of replacing Trident.

Whilst the review is expected to conclude there is no serious alternative to the submarine-based system if Britain wants to maintain a continuous deterrent safe from enemy attack, Mr Alexander has said there are alternatives in moving from the Cold war postures of the past to a new future with a deterrent that is credible and one to which the UK can play a role in supporting disarmament.

Trident: Lib Dems want alternatives

Trident: Lib Dems want alternatives

Trident relies on four Vanguard submarines based at Faslane on the Clyde to provide a continuous deterrent. A cheaper system involving only two would, according to supporters of those wishing to maintain a full Trident complement, expose the UK to periods of vulnerability.

Conservative MP Julian Lewis said Mr Alexander’s comments suggested the Lib Dems would push for a reduced deterrent that would put Britain at risk. ‘It is the height of irresponsibility,’ he said.

John Woodcock, Labour MP for Barrow, where Britain’s submarines are built, said:

… Few will take the Liberal Democrats seriously if they claim Britain could make do with a part-time deterrent.

Faslane and the neighbouring Coulport naval base employ 6,700 people.

But Trident is based solely in Scotland. The Scottish Government have promised that Trident will be removed if the people of Scotland vote for independence in next year’s independence referendum. There is much antipathy in Scotland in maintaining a nuclear deterrent on Scottish soil, although it is believed the missile deterrent would have to be phased-out over a period of time due to decommissioning and other demobilisation considerations.

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Britain, Consumer Affairs, Economic, Government, Politics

Consumer Affairs: Payday loan firms…

PAYDAY loan firms will not be banned from charging excessively high interest rates, despite a promised Government crackdown on sharp practices in the industry.

Leading companies were summoned for talks in Whitehall with Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson MP, today, amid a myriad of concerns that they are driving desperate families to financial ruin.

In a toughly-worded intervention, Miss Swinson, the Member of Parliament for East Dunbartonshire, said she is determined to curb ‘irresponsible behaviour which exploits vulnerable consumers in financial strife’.

The minister of state confirmed payday loan firms such as Wonga will not be ordered to cut their interest rates. The LibDem MP cited concerns that people could be forced into borrowing from even shadier loan sharks.

Critics of payday loan firms insist that the exorbitant interest rates, which can reach 5,000 per cent a year, are the root cause of misery suffered by hundreds of thousands of people taking out payday loans.

Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, called for a legal cap on payday lenders and the level of interest they are allowed to charge.

The Archbishop said:

… Once you have taken out the loan, it is difficult to get out of the cycle. With the rates offered, simply paying off the interest becomes a struggle.

Consumer organisation Which? published a study showing a million families a month are forced to take out payday loans. It found some 400,000 people take out the high interest loans to pay for essentials such as food and fuel. A further 240,000 need the cash to pay existing loans.

Which? says that almost half of the people taking out payday loans could not cover their repayments, forcing them deeper into debt as their ‘short-term’ loans are ‘rolled over’, with fresh interest added.

The Whitehall summit comes days after the £2 billion industry was referred by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Competition Commission. It will have the power to ban or limit the industry’s products, but will take up to 18 months to report.

It is understood the OFT has given the 50 lenders until the end of July to respond to calls for them to clean up their act or face closure. Five firms have since surrendered their licence, but only 20 have responded to date.

Labour MP Stella Creasy accused ministers of being too cosy with the industry. She said:

… Having a summit about payday lending without talking about capping interest rates is like discussing arson without mentioning matches.

In reply that interest rates should be capped, Miss Swinson said that could shut down short-term loans and force people towards illegal loan sharks or by taking other extreme measures. She has suggested, though, that the focus should be on limiting the ease with which loans are ‘rolled over’.

The Consumers Affairs Minister also raised concerns about automatic payment systems that let lenders raid bank accounts of clients to claw back money they are owed.

COMMENT

Payday lenders are notorious by the way in which they operate and the rates they charge should be capped. This opinion is based on the assumption that lending money to people with poor credit histories at sky-high interest rates is wrong. Unfortunately, the problem of unsecured lending is a warren of complexity.

The empirical evidence elsewhere is important to consider. In many other countries, including France, Germany, Australia and Japan, and in many states in America and provinces in Canada, interest rates are capped at a ceiling – such as 36 or 48 per cent a year. But this means that companies cease to offer loans to risky customers, who are then forced into the hands of illegal loan sharks, often run by organised crime gangs. Arguably, it is better to have payday lending in the legal economy, where it can at least be regulated, than to drive it into the criminal underworld.

Stella Creasy MP has campaigned tenaciously against irresponsible lending. She has said that the problems with a rate cap should not mean that we cannot act. Rather, she says, we must work harder and learn from others how best to act. She has proposed a cap on total repayments to try and break the cycle on compound interest and rollover debts that end up many times the size of the original loan. A way needs to be found without choking off the legitimate market for emergency short-term borrowing.

This, however, should be just the start of a programme of reforms to limit abuses in the payday-loan market. Further issues should be addressed by the Competition Commission following the investigation launched last week.

The Commission’s task is to look at unfair competitive practices that are suspected of giving borrowers a bad deal, such as convoluted information about interest rates and how they are applied. Lenders are also known to make it hard for borrowers to switch to a rival company.

A plethora of reforms are needed within the payday-loan industry. Any programme of serious reform should start first with the underlying causes of problem borrowing. Advertising, for example, should be restricted, on similar principles that have already been applied to the advertising of alcohol and tobacco. Adverts for payday loans could carry information about where to get debt advice. Payday lenders could be required, too, in paying a levy to fund helplines and services to help with addictive and self-destructive behaviour that leads to indebtedness in the first place, or to support the work of credit unions.

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