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Politics and policy
The latest political technology news, features and analysis from around the world. Verdict covers the political side of technology, from news on rules, regulation and policy to the role of governments in tech. Be it good, bad or somewhere in between, political technology is now a vital part of the wider world of tech and plays a key role in shaping the political sphere.
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13 Dec
How did the tech industry react to a Conservative landslide?
The Conservative Party has won the 2019 general election with a sweeping majority, giving Prime Minister Boris Johnson a clear mandate to “get Brexit done”.
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13 Dec
Sentiment analysis and the general election: Why we have a long way to go
Last night, as the general election results poured in and Britain learnt its fate for the next five years, I took to Twitter armed with a sentiment analysis tool to gauge how the country was reacting to the unfolding news of a Conservative win.
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11 Dec
Small business voting plans: One in four SMEs has no confidence in any political party
Despite attempts by all of the leading UK political parties to lure small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) into making them the focus of their voting plans, just below a quarter of SMEs have no confidence that any party will bring business benefits.
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10 Dec
How disinformation hijacked the ‘Leeds Hospital’ narrative
There is a very popular senior nursing sister at Leeds General Infirmary.
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9 Dec
Conservatives harness Facebook ads to take Ed Miliband’s Labour safe seat
In the last few days before the UK general election, the Conservatives have launched a string of highly targeted Facebook ads focused on key constituencies, with former Labour leader Ed Miliband’s Doncaster North constituency among the key targets.
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6 Dec
The broadband battleground: What the main parties’ broadband policies say about them
With broadband still a relatively new and-evolving proposition in general election terms, and having been more recently upgraded to the status of household utility in public perception, it is striking how quickly the main parties’ policies on broadband have become about much more than the speed it takes to load a web page.
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6 Dec
Conservative general election victory best for UK tech, Verdict survey finds
Victory for the Conservative Party in the general election would be the best outcome for the UK’s technology industry, according to a poll of Verdict readers.
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4 Dec
NATO leaders issue 5G security declaration, indicating Huawei ban
An official declaration issued today by world leaders attending the NATO meeting in London has highlighted the need for 5G security, in what the US government will likely interpret as a ban on Huawei.
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3 Dec
How could “unclear and unrealistic” Brexit plans impact the tech industry?
With just over a week before the UK goes to the polls to vote in the general election, academic think tank The UK in a Changing Europe has criticised party manifestos as setting out “vague and potentially unrealistic” Brexit plans.
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27 Nov
Young people fuel dramatic last-minute surge in online voter registrations
Online voter registrations for the UK general election climbed dramatically in the two days prior to the deadline, with young people driving the vast majority of the surge.
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25 Nov
Conservative manifesto: Technology pledges in full
The Conservative Party has published its 2019 manifesto, outlining its plans for the UK should it win the general election.
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21 Nov
Labour manifesto: Technology pledges in full
The Labour Party has published its 2019 manifesto, outlining the party’s policies ahead of the general election.
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21 Nov
Labour manifesto promises “overhaul” of British cybersecurity
The newly released Labour manifesto sees Jeremy Corbyn’s party promise a clampdown on cybersecurity incidents by overhauling how the UK handles the issue.
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19 Nov
Arron Banks hacked: Leave.EU founder to take legal action against Twitter
The Twitter account of Leave.EU co-founder Arron Banks has been suspended following a hack that exposed the personal messages of the Brexit financier.
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15 Nov
Free broadband sounds great, but Labour needs to remember 5G
Today British voters woke up to the news that Labour is planning to provide every home and business with free, full-fibre broadband by 2030 if it wins the upcoming general election.
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12 Nov
Labour cyberattack: Was a nation state behind the incident?
Who is behind the Labour cyberattack that saw the UK’s second biggest party hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that briefly slowed down campaigning efforts?
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12 Nov
Labour DDoS attack “should be a significant concern to all voters”
The news that the UK Labour Party has been hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, described as a “sophisticated and large-scale cyberattack” by the political party, has been hailed as a concern for the entire country.
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11 Nov
Free internet essential to maintaining human rights, research finds
The internet should be made free to access for all as it now plays a vital role in upholding other human rights, according to research published today.
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8 Nov
Facebook political advertising is “not democracy”: Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, has slammed Facebook political advertising, arguing that the micro-targeted approach lacks oversight and is “not democracy”.
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8 Nov
Trump tech chief lays freedom on the line in calls to block Chinese technology
Michael Kratsios, chief technology officer of the US and a key advisor to President Donald Trump, has doubled down on calls for Western governments to block Chinese technology in a vitriol-laden speech in Lisbon, Portugal.
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7 Nov
Tony Blair: Technology is vital to defeating populism
Technology is key to combatting the surge in populism in the West that has led to both the election of US President Donald Trump and Brexit, according to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
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1 Nov
ICO: “Slow down” police deployment of facial recognition
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has warned that police forces need to “slow down” on the deployment of facial recognition technology due to its potential for “widespread invasiveness”.
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1 Nov
How the threat of hacking looms over the 2020 election
With the UK bracing for a general election and campaigning ahead of the US 2020 presidential election now in full swing, the threat of election hacking is once more a key topic of conversation.
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30 Oct
NSO Group lawsuit exposes uncomfortable truth of 21st-century espionage
WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit against Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, raising questions around the complicated role the private sector plays in facilitating government surveillance and the dangers posed by its cyberweapons ending up in the wrong hands.
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15 Oct
With voter ID plans criticised, what election technology alternatives are there?
Members of the public may soon be required to show a form of ID, such as a driving licence or passport before being able to vote in a UK general or local election.
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14 Oct
London financial services jobs “defying political chaos”, but uncertainty remains
With continued uncertainty over when the UK will leave the EU, many businesses have been left with more questions than answers when it comes to Brexit planning.
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11 Oct
MPs call for strict commercial drone regulations
Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee has published its report on commercial drones, calling on the government to provide a clear “vision” for the safer use of drones through regulations and criminal penalties for their misuse.
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11 Oct
World leaders scramble to reassure public over 5G safety
A host of world leaders have been forced to make statements about the safety of 5G after public fears about the technology’s impact on health and the environment have increased, prompting protests in some countries.
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9 Oct
Ecuador is in serious need of proper data protection laws following massive breach
In an era when some of the largest corporations in the world have failed to properly secure the personal data of billions of people, lawmakers have become keen to push legislation aimed at giving consumers greater control over their personal data.
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7 Oct
IBM CEO: US needs “consistent consumer privacy regulation”
IBM CEO Ginni Rometty has backed the introduction of GDPR-style regulation across the US.