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Data: the privacy debate

Data and privacy are the issues of our time. The investigative journalism  of Carole Cadwalladr and her team, which took over a year to fully expose Cambridge Analytica, marks a watershed: never again can we allow our personal data to be used and manipulated in this way. The complicity of Facebook in this unfolding story means that I for one will think twice about what personal information I share, which seemingly harmless online quizzes I might take, or even whether to post a photo of my son’s Oreo birthday cake, lest this information be used for hidden  political or financial  purposes. A few months ago a pro-BREXIT advert featuring James Dyson (of vacuum cleaner fame) appeared on my feed. I removed it, as it was not relevant to me. I like using social media, and as a public figure it is essential for modern day-to-day communication. However, using social media is a learning process and our ignorance of how our personal data is used and, in the case of Cambridge Analytica, abus
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Nothing is agreed, 'til all is agreed

Yesterday the UK and EU sides of the BREXIT negotiations agreed on  a draft text  which will form the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement which will go forward to Friday's European Council meeting for approval. But even if the European Council agrees to the new draft text (not to be confused with the previous draft text  ) there is still a long way to go before the final agreement will face votes in both the British and European Parliaments. Firstly, Ireland. Theresa May in her  letter  to Donald Tusk reaffirms the Government's view that the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement of 1998 must be protected in all its parts. She goes on to say that "the commitments in the Joint Report  on which more work is needed include our guarantee of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and to preserving North-South cooperation." Even in this late stage of negotiations, the border question, so crucial to the livelihoods and security of people in Northern Ireland, remai
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