APRIL 2018 NEWSLETTER FROM MATT HANCOCK MP
Here’s a snapshot of what has been happening in Westminster and West Suffolk
In Westminster
End to the Wild West culture of the internet giants
Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a Facebook official admitted that it failed to do enough to identify data breaches and failed to act when informed about them. He said the company gave the impression that it feared if it investigated a suspected breach and found policies or laws were broken it would be liable and so it did not investigate.
Now is the time for us to look at the wider responsibilities of tech companies. This is the moment for the Government to broker a new settlement between tech companies, society and the state, to put more power and control back in the hands of people who use social media.
The days of an unregulated Wild West are over. The new settlement must set the highest ethical standards for those using people’s data. People must have confidence in how their data is used and know it cannot be used in ways they would not want.
The Digital Charter sets out how we intend to agree norms and rules for the online world and put them into practice. This covers internet safety, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and how we protect intellectual property online.
We want to work with the tech companies, civil society, businesses and others to reach this new settlement. In some cases this will be through shifting expectations of behaviour. In some cases we will need to agree new standards. In others we may need to update our laws — and we are prepared to legislate further if we need to.
Our ambition is to make sure the UK is the safest place in the world to be online and the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business.
End to the Leveson Inquiry