Paul Bernal

University of East Anglia | UEA · School of Law

New Media and Freedom of Expression: Rethinking the Constitutional Foundations of the Public Sphere, edited by András Koltay [Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2019, 280pp, ISBN 9781509916481, £75 (h/bk)] - Volume 69 Issue 3 - Paul Bernal

The current ‘fake news’ phenomenon is a modern manifestation of something that has existed throughout history. The difference between what happens now and what has happened before is driven by the nature of the internet and social media – and Facebook in particular. Three key strands of Facebook’s business model – invading privacy to profile indivi...

Cambridge Core - Intellectual Property - The Internet, Warts and All - by Paul Bernal

The nature and depth of internet surveillance has been revealed to be very different from what had previously been publically acknowledged or politically debated. There are critical ways in which the current debate is miscast, misleading and confused. Privacy is portrayed as an individual right, in opposition to a collective need for security. Data...

Internet Privacy Rights analyses the current threats to our online autonomy and privacy and proposes a new model for the gathering, retention and use of personal data. Key to the model is the development of specific privacy rights: a right to roam the internet with privacy, a right to monitor the monitors, a right to delete personal data and a righ...

The so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ has been a subject of much debate on both sides of the Atlantic since Commissioner Viviane Reding announced her intention to introduce it in 2010. What is seen by those proposing it on the European side to be a simple and logical extension of existing data protection principles is presented in the US as ‘the bi...

If people have a right to internet access then should they have a right to an online identity? This paper will suggest that such a right should exist – and will look at the form that it might take, how it might be brought into practice, and what the implications of such a right might be in terms of the form and functions of the internet in the futu...

Does it matter that companies are collecting data? More than you might imagine, warns Paul Bernal

The saga of Phorm’s Webwise behavioural targeting system, has been fraught with problems: legal challenges, technical disputes, serial campaigning, police action, EU action, smear campaigns and propaganda. Until the spring of 2009 it had looked as though Phorm would succeed, with the UK government firmly behind it, three of the biggest ISP’s planni...

Consent in the online environment is a crucial issue at this stage of the development of the Internet, and at the same time, in practice it is generally dealt with only on a superficial level. However, while the Internet offers significant challenges in terms of consent, it also provides unparalleled opportunities, which, if grasped, could enable a...

A new form of symbiosis is developing on the Web. The current ecommerce model, which relies heavily on the supply of 'free' content, has made individuals and commercial enterprises mutually dependent: enterprises have built business models reliant on a currency of personal data, while individuals expect free access to services supplied by search en...