Nora Ni Loideain
nniloideain.bsky.social
Nora Ni Loideain
@nniloideain.bsky.social
Director, Information Law & Policy Centre (IALS, University of London). Interested in all things data privacy and data protection, especially human rights law and civil liberties. Joint Editor-in-Chief, International Data Privacy Law (OUP). Own views
Pinned
It’s official!

My book with Oxford University Press is out:

EU Data Privacy Law and Serious Crime: Data Retention and Policymaking
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
“on article 8 of the ECHR in particular the right to family life ..we want to constrain in legislation the way that that is applied in immigration cases” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood tells Sky’s Trevor Philips

Who would have imagined we would ever hear this from a Labour government
November 16, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
🇬🇷Greece’s National Intelligence Service (EYP) informed the country’s top court that it could not locate its own internal documents from 2020 ordering the surveillance of @nasoskoukakis.bsky.social.

www.dnews.gr/eidhseis/new...
Greek Council of State Probes Missing Surveillance Files in Expanding Surveillance Scandal - Dnews
EYP informed the court that it could not locate the agency’s 2020 surveillance requests. A few months after Greece’s Council of State issued a landmark ruling in favor of PASOK leader Nikos Androulaki...
www.dnews.gr
November 15, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Labour’s latest attack on asylum seekers is cruel & counterproductive. How does it help community cohesion to hold threat of deportation over vulnerable people? We don’t need an arms race with the hard right over asylum, we need safe routes & European cooperation #bbclaurak
November 16, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
True story.

Via @xkcd.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
The International Criminal Court is ditching Microsoft Office, saying it’s too dependent on US tech, in favor of Open Desk, a German open source alternative.

The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
International Criminal Court to ditch Microsoft Office for European open source alternative | Euractiv
The court will move its internal work environment to Open Desk, a German-developed open source software
www.euractiv.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Latest ECtHR judgment relating to Poland's rule of law crisis: ECtHR found interference not to be in accordance with the rule of law (a rare finding) on account of fact the relevant "judgement" was issued by the fake (constitutional) court as bench included fake judges = not a judgment therefore
A woman was 15 weeks pregnant when Poland's Constitutional Court issued a judgment restricting access to #abortion.

The ruling wasn’t published for over 3 months, leaving the legal situation unclear.

That’s not OK, rules the European Court of #HumanRights👇

🔗 go.coe.int/WjFxQ

#ECHR #FamilyLife
November 13, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
EU tech law - EU Commission starts investigation of Google under Digital Markets Act, for downgrading publishers in search results - ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission opens investigation into potential Digital Markets Act breach by Google in demoting media publishers\' content in search results
Today, the European Commission has formally launched proceedings to assess whether Google applies fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions of access to publishers\' websites on Google Search...
ec.europa.eu
November 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
One to watch.

It's almost 10 years old but remains as relevant as ever to the UK human rights debate -

What has the ECHR ever done for us?

- the right to a fair trial
- the right to privacy
- Freedom from discrimination
- the Good Friday Agreement, and so on

www.theguardian.com/culture/vide...
Patrick Stewart sketch: what has the ECHR ever done for us? - video
Patrick Stewart, Adrian Scarborough and Sarah Solemani perform a satirical take on the Tory party’s human rights policy, inspired by the classic Monty Python sketch
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Happy Birthday to the European Convention on Human Rights, which has helped to protect #OurRightsAndFreedoms for 75 years.

Here are more than 200 examples, from across the continent👇

🔗 www.coe.int/ECHR

There are thousands more.

#ECHR #ECHR75 @coe.int @echr.coe.int
November 4, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Just to be clear, it IS about removing rights. Specifically it’s about removing Article 8 rights - private and family life - to make it easier to deport people.

You won’t find advocates able to mention any other rights here.
Not so. The Labour Govt and several other European govts are seeking reforms/modifications in the way the court operates. This is not about ‘removing rights’, even the ECHR itself has welcomed reform!
November 4, 2025 at 7:57 AM
One to watch.

How far will the scope of the ICO investigation apply?

More than one public body is involved.

The Home Office shared the inaccurate dataset with the HMRC.

Was the private sector also involved? Eg, the airlines sharing travel data or passenger name data, or another third party?
Not a huge surprise - HMRC may have breached privacy laws with their child benefit suspension mess.

Can we do the same investigation for DWP fraud detection now please?
HMRC likely to have breached privacy laws in stopping child benefit – experts
Watchdog contacts tax authority after families’ payments stopped based on flawed travel data
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Not a huge surprise - HMRC may have breached privacy laws with their child benefit suspension mess.

Can we do the same investigation for DWP fraud detection now please?
HMRC likely to have breached privacy laws in stopping child benefit – experts
Watchdog contacts tax authority after families’ payments stopped based on flawed travel data
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
New from Free Movement: Two more immigration lawyers facing potential disciplinary proceedings for misuse of AI | Sonia Lenegan freemovement.org.uk/two-more-imm...
Two more immigration lawyers facing potential disciplinary proceedings for misuse of AI - Free Movement
Two more immigration lawyers, a barrister and a solicitor, are facing the possibility of a Hamid hearing and a referral to their professional regulator after
freemovement.org.uk
October 29, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
📣 Join us 9-12 June in Lille, France for the 11th @survstudiesnet.bsky.social / Surveillance & Society Biennial Conference 2026 & submit your abstract before 10 January 2026!

Theme is Planetary #surveillance

Check out the call for abstracts here: surveillance-studies.net/conference/
Conference – Surveillance Studies Network
surveillance-studies.net
October 29, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Huge mess up by HMRC here but you also have to wonder which other organisations Home Office are sharing this error-ridden border data about individuals with?, how its being shared (copies? Held internally but queried?), whether limitations/errors are clear &c&c?

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
HMRC pauses child benefit crackdown after 23,500 families caught up in data error
Parents say they were treated as fraudsters because Home Office travel records failed to show their return to UK
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
NEW: The number of phones being searched at the US border just hit another high

- 16,000 devices were searched in the last three months—a record high for a quarter
- 55,000 in the fiscal year 2025 (Oct-Sept)—a yearly record high

Story with @dell.bsky.social here:

www.wired.com/story/cbp-se...
October 28, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
A reminder that the UK’s ban on LGBT people serving in the armed forces was only lifted after a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights.

🔗 www.bbc.com/news/article... via www.bbcnews.com

#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms #Article8 #PrivateLife #MeddlingForeignCourt #CreditWhereItsDue
King unveils new memorial to LGBT veterans after gay ban campaign
A memorial is unveiled dedicated to gay military personnel and to those who served during the armed forces gay ban.
www.bbc.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).

It’s also concerning. 1/
PSA: we're aware that Signal is down for some people. This appears to be related to a major AWS outage. Stand by.
October 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Another shocking example of an AI system being misused (in the US).

In addition to the completely unjustified violation of the teenager’s privacy and due process rights, there has been a chilling effect on going outside in case of further right violations.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Armed police handcuff teen after AI mistakes crisp packet for gun in US
Taki Allen, 16, said he was eating a bag of Doritos after football practice before being handcuffed by police.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:

- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 22, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
The biggest source for any DSA investigation into addictive design features might not be platforms' risk assessments, but the more than 6 million documents that are part of the pretrial discovery process in the US www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
‘Massive Legal Siege’ Against Social Media Companies Looms
Thousands of plaintiffs’ complaints, millions of pages of internal documents and transcripts of countless hours of depositions are about to land in US courtrooms, threatening the future of the biggest...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Some politicians and commentators continue to talk our great city down.

The facts show a very different picture.
October 20, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
"The chances of #AGI’s arrival by 2027 now seem remote. The government has let #AI companies lead a charmed life, with almost zero #regulation. It now ought to enact legislation that addresses costs and harms unfairly offloaded onto the public." ~ @garymarcus.bsky.social
Opinion | The Fever Dream of Imminent Superintelligence Is Finally Breaking
Building bigger A.I. isn’t leading to better A.I.
www.nytimes.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Turing Award laureate Rich Sutton now critiques pure LLMs—echoing @garymarcus.bsky.social . Time to move beyond science fiction and refocus on scientific rigour. #AI #LLM #Neurosymbolic #RichSutton #GaryMarcus

garymarcus.substack.com/p/game-over-...
Game over for pure LLMs. Even Turing Award Winner Rich Sutton has gotten off the bus.
One by one, all the big names have turned around. What should we do next?
garymarcus.substack.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Reposted by Nora Ni Loideain
Is AI really on an exponential curve, or is that hype?
@garymarcus.bsky.social argues GPT-5 proves the curve has flattened. Scaling isn’t delivering exponential gains anymore and the field is shifting to smaller or hybrid models.
Are we past exponential AI, or just in a slowdown? #academisky #ai
October 6, 2025 at 8:33 AM