Dr Ian Brown

Associate Director (Cyber Security Centre) and Senior Research Fellow (OII)

Dr Ian Brown

Ian Brown's work focuses on public policy issues around information and the Internet, particularly privacy, copyright and e-democracy. He also works in the more technical fields of information security, networking and healthcare informatics.

Tel: +44 (0)1865 287213

Profile

Since 1998 Dr Brown has variously been a trustee of Privacy International, the Open Rights Group and the Foundation for Information Policy Research and an adviser to Greenpeace, the Refugee Children’s Consortium, Amnesty International and Creative Commons UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the International University of Japan and the British Computer Society, a senior member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and has consulted for the US Department of Homeland Security, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Allianz, McAfee, BT, the BBC, the European Commission, the Cabinet Office, Ofcom, the National Audit Office and the Information Commissioner's Office. Previous projects include Pilot Interactive Mobile Multimedia System (PIMMS), Control and Prediction of the Organic Solid State (CPOSS), CLEF (Integrating Information for the clinical e-Scientist), Fair Tracing, e-Curator and the Cambridge-MIT Institute's Critical Infrastructure Protection working group.

Dr Brown's work has been covered by the BBC, CNN, CBC and numerous newspapers and magazines. He has written for the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian. In 2004 he was voted as one of the 100 most influential people in the development of the Internet in the UK over the previous decade.

A full list of pre-2007 articles is available from UCL.

Email: firstname.lastname at oii.ox.ac.uk

Research interests

privacy, copyright, e-democracy, information security, security, networking, healthcare informatics

Positions held at the OII

  • Associate Director (Cyber Security Centre), March 2012 -
  • Senior Research Fellow (OII), January 2009 -
  • Research Fellow, July 2007 - December 2008

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Research

Current projects

Past projects

  • FRESNEL: Federated Secure Sensor Network Laboratory

    January 2010 - April 2013

    FRESNEL aims to build a large scale federated sensor network framework with multiple applications sharing the same resources, where reliable intra-application communication is guaranteed, as well as a scalable and distributed management infrastructure.

  • SUBITO: Surveillance of Unattended Baggage and the Identification and Tracking of the Owner

    July 2009 - October 2011

    SUBITO is designed to research and further develop automated real time detection of abandoned luggage, fast identification of the individual responsible and his/her subsequent path and current location.

  • IMSK: Integrated Mobile Security Kit

    March 2009 - March 2013

    IMSK integrates information from legacy and novel sensor technologies into common operational picture where information is fused into intelligence, in a mobile system suitable for rapid deployment at venues which temporarily need enhanced security.

  • Towards a Future Internet

    December 2008 - April 2011

    The Internet Futures project will produce a single preferred vision of a 'Future Internet' for Europe by researching possible social, psychological, technological and economic options for its further development and their likely socio-economic impacts.

  • Privacy Value Networks (PVNets)

    October 2008 - December 2011

    Privacy Value Networks (PVNets) is producing an empirical base for developing concepts of privacy across contexts and timeframes, addressing a current lack of clarity of what privacy is and what it means to stakeholders in different usage scenarios.

  • PrivacyOS

    June 2008 - June 2010

    PrivacyOS is a thematic network for privacy protection infrastructure within the current European Commission's ICT Policy Support Programme, aiming to foster development and deployment of privacy infrastructures for Europe.

  • e-Curator Project

    October 2007 - September 2011

    e-Curator explores the use of 3D colour scanning and e-Science technologies to capture and share very large 3D colour scans and detailed datasets about museum artefacts in a secure computing environment, to assist curators and conservators.

  • Fair Tracing Project

    October 2006 - September 2009

    The aim of the Fair Tracing project was to support Ethical Trade by implementing IT Tracking and Tracing Technologies in supply chains to provide consumers and producers with enhanced information.

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection

    January 2005 - December 2007

    Cambridge-MIT project exploring new ways in which universities in partnership with others might help enhance the productivity, competitiveness and entrepreneurship of the UK economy.

  • Control and Prediction of the Organic Solid State (CPOSS)

    October 2003 - September 2012

    The project developed the capability of calculating and interpreting Crystal Energy Landscapes for salts, hydrates, cocrystals and an increasing complexity of molecule and validated their use testing against experimental structures.

  • CLEF (Integrating Information for the clinical e-Scientist)

    January 2003 - December 2005

    CLEF aims to develop a high quality, secure and interoperable information repository, derived from operational electronic patient records to enable ethical and user-friendly access to patient information.

  • Pilot Interactive Mobile Multimedia System (PIMMS)

    October 1997 - October 2000

    The use of multimedia conferencing tools has become widespread within the business world, and the project's aim is to extend these tools to work within a mobile environment.

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Publications

Articles

Books

Chapters

  • Korff, D. and Brown, I. (2011) Social media and human rights in "Human rights and a changing media landscape". Council of Europe Publications, pp. 175-206. ISBN 978-92-871-7198-6.
  • Haddadi, H., Hui, P., Henderson, T., Brown, I. (2011) Targeted Advertising on the Handset: Privacy and Security Challenges. In Müller, J., Alt, F., Michelis, D. (eds) Pervasive Advertising. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 119-137. ISBN: 9780857293510.
  • Mazanderani, F. and I. Brown (2010) Privacy as a practice: exploring the relational and spatial dynamics of HIV-related information seeking. In: S.Gutwirth, Y.Poullet, P.De Hert and R.Leene (eds) Computers, Privacy and Data Protection: An Element of Choice. Springer, pp. 251-268. ISBN: 9789400706408.
  • Brown, I. (2009) Regulation of Converged Communications Surveillance. In: B.Goold and D.Neyland (eds) New Directions in Privacy and Surveillance. Exeter: Willan, pp. 39-73.
  • Edwards, L. and Brown, I. (2009) Data Control and Social Networking: Irreconcilable Ideas? In: A.Matwyshyn (ed.) Harboring Data: Information Security, Law and the Corporation. Stanford University Press, pp. 202-227. ISBN: 9780804760089.
  • Brown, I., Edwards, L. and Marsden, C. (2009) Information security and cybercrime. In: L.Edwards and C.Waelde (eds) Law and the Internet, 3rd edn. Oxford: Hart, pp. 671-692. ISBN: 9781841138152.
  • Brown, I. (2008) Internet filtering - be careful what you ask for. In: S.Kirca and L.Hanson (eds) Freedom and Prejudice: Approaches to Media and Culture. Istanbul: Bahcesehir University Press, pp. 74-91.
  • Robson, S., Brown, I., Hess, M., MacDonald, S., Ong, Y.-H. and Millar, F. (2008) Traceable storage and transmission of 3D colour scan data sets. In: M.Ioannides and A.Addison (eds) Digital Heritage, pp. 93-99. ISBN: 9789638046994.
  • Brown, I. (2003) The danger to journalists from new security technologies. In: Spreading the word on the Internet: reflections on freedom of the media and the Internet. Vienna: Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, pp. 187-196.
  • Brown, I. (2003) The United Kingdom. In Hosein,I. (ed.) Privacy, Technology and Europe: A Report for Japan's Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications. London: Privacy International, pp. 387-392.

Conference papers

  • Brown, I. (2013) Britain's smart meter programme: a case study in privacy by design. BCS/OII Workshop on the Internet of Things, London, 14 February 2013.
  • Brown, I. (2013) Data protection redress in the UK. Conference on Privacy and Data Protection, Brussels, 24 January 2013.
  • Brown, I. (2012) Data Protection and Social Networking Sites. 2nd Asian Privacy Scholars Conference, 20 November 2012.
  • Arabo, A., Brown, I. and El-Mousa, F. (2012) Privacy in the Age of Mobility and Smart Devices in Smart Homes. ASE/IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust, Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 2012.
  • de Souza, T., Wright, J., O'Hanlon, P. and Brown, I. (2012) Set Difference Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks. Proceedings of SecureComm, Italy, September 2012.
  • Wright, J., de Souza, T. and Brown, I. (2011) Fine-Grained Censorship Mapping: Information Sources, Legality and Ethics. FOCI'11 (USENIX Security Symposium), 8 August 2011, San Francisco.
  • Papoutsi, C., Anderson, J. and Brown, I. (2011) Why do Dual Case Note Systems for HIV Persist? Initial Findings from two UK HIV Outpatient Centers. Poster presented at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference, Rome, Italy, 17-20 July 2011.
  • Marsden, C.T. and Brown, I. (2011) Regulating Code: Inter-disciplinary Empirical Case Studies in Governance and Regulation. Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Arlington, VA.
  • Brown, I., Clark, D. and Trossen, D. (2010) Should Specific Values Be Embedded In The Internet Architecture? Proceedings of the Re-Architecting the Internet workshop, New York: ACM Press. ISBN: 9781450304696.
  • Haddadi, H., Hui, P. and Brown, I. (2010) MobiAd: Private and Scalable Mobile Advertising. Proceedings of the fifth ACM International Workshop on Mobility in the Evolving Internet Architecture, New York: ACM Press. ISBN: 9781450301435.
  • Wright, J. and Brown, I. (2010) Privacy Challenges in Delay-Tolerant and Restricted-Route Networks. Proceedings of the 2nd Extreme Workshop on Communication, Dharamsala, India, 4-10 September 2010.
  • Papoutsi, C. and Brown, I. (2010) Technological Information Privacy Challenges in Healthcare. Poster presented at the IADIS International Conference e-Society 2010, 18-21 March 2010, Porto, Portugal.
  • Mazanderani, F. and Brown, I. (2010) Making things private: exploring the relational dynamics of privacy. Paper presented at the 3rd  International Conference on Computers, Privacy and Data Protection, 29-30 January 2010 Brussels, Belgium.
  • Papoutsi, C., Mazanderani, F. and Brown, I. (2010) Researching Privacy in HIV Care: An Ethnographic Analysis of Methods. Privacy and Usability Methods (PUMP) Workshop, British HCI 2010 Conference.
  • Brown, I., Kleine, D. and Light, A. (2009) Understanding the provenance of ethically produced goods. Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information Technology and Development 2009, Doha, Qatar, 17-19 April 2009.
  • Richter, W. and Brown, I. (2009) Designing effective regulation for the 'Dark side' of the Web. Proceedings of the WebSci09 - Society Online Conference, Athens, 18-20 March 2009.
  • Wallenta, C., Ahmed, M., Brown, I., Hailes, S. and Huici, F. (2008) We know what you did at 9am: analysis systems with dynamic user generated content. Proceedings of Multi-Service Networks, Abingdon, 10 July 2008.
  • Robson, S., Brown, I., Hess, M., MacDonald, S., Ong, Y.-H., Millar, F. and Were, G. (2008) Traceable storage and transmission of 3D colour scan data sets. Proc. Virtual Systems and Multimedia, Cyprus.
  • Millar, F., Were, G., Brown, I., Hess, M., MacDonald, S., Robson, S. and Ong, Y.-H. (2008) 3D Colour Scans for Object Assessment. Proc. Electronic Information, the Visual Arts and Beyond, London, pp. 125-134.
  • Brown, I. (2008) Trust in Online Communities. Proc. International Conference on Information Culture, Seoul, pp. 236-253.
  • Hess, M., Millar, F.S, Ong, Y-H., MacDonald, S., Robson, S., Brown, I. and Were, G. (2008) E-Curator: 3D Colour Scans for Object Assessment. Annual Conference of the International Documentation Committee of the International Council of Museums, Athens.
  • Robson, S., Hess, M., Millar, F., Were, G., Brown, I., MacDonald, S. and Ong, Y-H. (2008) Storage and transmission of 3D colour scan data sets. CIPA 2008, Conference on Virtual Systems and MultiMedia Dedicated to Digital Heritage. Cyprus.
  • Brown, I. and Marsden, C.T. (2007) Co-regulating Internet Security: The London Action Plan. Global Internet Governance Academic Network Second Annual Symposium, Rio de Janeiro.
  • Roberts, L., Blanshard, L.J., van Dam, K.K., Price, S.L., Price, L.S. and Brown, I. (2006) Providing an Effective Data Infrastructure for the Simulation of Complex Materials. Fifth All Hands e-Science Meeting, Nottingham: National eScience Centre, pp. 101-105.
  • Brown, I. (2005) Who is enfranchised by remote voting? IEEE Computer Software and Applications Conference, IEEE.
  • Brown, I. (2003) Data retention in the UK. ACM Computers, Freedom and Privacy, New York City: ACM Press.
  • Brown, I. (2002) Standards bodies' approaches to wiretapping requirements. ACM Computers, Freedom and Privacy, San Francisco: ACM Press.
  • Brown, I. and Davies, S. (2000) The new corporate threat to freedom of expression. Proc. 3rd UNESCO Congress on Ethical, Legal and Societal Challenges of Cyberspace, Paris.
  • Brown, I. and Hosein, G. (2000) Serve yourself...shifting power away from the brothers. Proc. ACM Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2000, Toronto, ACM, pp. 39-41.
  • Brown, I. and Laurie, B. (2000) Security against compelled disclosure. Proc. 16th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, New Orleans, LA.
  • Kirstein, P.T., Whelan, E. and Brown, I. (2000) Secure multicast conferencing. Proc. DISCEX 2000, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 54-63.
  • Brown, I., Perkins, C. and Crowcroft, J. (1999) Watercasting: distributed watermarking of multicast media. NGC '99 Proceedings of the First International COST264 Workshop on Networked Group Communication, pp. 286-300.
  • Kirstein, P.T., Brown, I. and Whelan, E. (1999) A secure multicast conferencing architecture. Proc. 4th International Distributed Conference, Madrid.

Presentations

Reports

Theses

Working papers

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Teaching

Courses taught at the OII

  • Internet Technologies and Regulation

    Exploring the interplay between social and technological shaping of the Internet, and associated policy implications. It outlines the Internet's origins and technical architecture and its embeddedness in a long history of communication technologies.

DPhil students supervised at the OII

Current students

Completed students

  • Fadhila Haeri Mazanderani

    Information As Care: Reconnecting Internet Use, HIV and Health

  • Wolf Richter

    'Better' Regulation Through Social Entrepreneurship? Innovative and Market-Based Approaches to Address the Digital Challenge to Copyright Regulation

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Webcasts

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News

  • Privacy groups attack ISPs over support for 'Snoopers' Charter'

    23 April 2013 Computerworld

    Criticism by Ian Brown, Ross Anderson (Cambridge) and Angela Sasse (UCL) of current proposals in the Communications Bill is reported as part of an article on a letter to ISPs from heads of major internet service providers.

  • Cameron is told to drop snooping on web users

    22 April 2013 The Times

    Front page report on the letter by Ian Brown and colleagues warning the Prime Minister that current proposals in the Communications Bill will be expensive, hinder innovation and undermine the privacy of citizens. 

  • Cybercrime experts attack Government’s ‘dangerous’ plan to snoop on web users

    22 April 2013 The Daily Mail

    The warning to the Prime Minister by Ian Brown and colleagues that plans in the Communications Bill threaten the privacy of citizens is reported in the Daily Mail. The experts say that there is little evidence new powers are needed. 

  • Commons Defence Committee report on risk to UK forces from cyber-attacks

    9 January 2013 BBC, Radio Scotland

    Ian Brown, discusses a report from the Defence Select Committee which has claimed that UK forces are at risk of a sustained attack on their information technology and that the Ministry of Defence is currently ill-prepared for such an event.

  • Copyright: Holding back the torrent

    8 December 2012 The Next Web

    At the IGF meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ian Brown floated the idea of a celestial jukebox connecting the world, where we can download whatever we want whenever we want with fair remuneration for creators. His idea features in a report on copyright.

  • Inside the Internet's Most Important Building

    15 August 2012 Bloomberg TV

    Ian Brown talks about London's Internet Exchange, a keystone of Internet structure linking 50 different countries and three continents.

  • Open-source project to get gadgets talking via the net

    10 August 2012 BBC News

    Commenting on Webinos, an open-source platform which allows digital devices to communicate with each other, Ian Brown points out that many open-source projects don't attract a community. Just because anyone can look doesn't mean they will, he says.

  • Regulation in the digital age

    9 August 2012 Consumer Focus

    Head of Sustainability and Consumer Futures at Consumer Focus, the statutory Consumer Champion, blogs about digital regulation and introduces a video by Ian Brown highlighting the fast changes in the digital world and the implications for regulators.

  • What's eating Google?

    29 July 2012 Sunday Times Magazine

    Google's influence over our online lives is waning as more people turn to mobile phones and tablets in place of laptops. Ian Brown is quoted in an in-depth feature on the company and possible threats to its future.

  • Wires Crossed

    7 July 2012 The Economist

    An Economist article on tighter web regulation quotes Ian Brown's that the proposals to allow citizens to pursue web users who libel anonymously may mean that sites collect more personal information from their users.

  • New Report Outlines Recommendations for Governments, Companies and Others on How to Protect Free Expression and Privacy Rights Online

    14 June 2012 Global Network Initiative

    Ian Brown and Douwe Korff's report for the GNI "Digital Freedoms in International Law" examines the challenges facing governments and technology companies as they balance rights to expression and privacy with law enforcement and national security.

  • Net loosens on web security fears as Britons reveal newfound confidence

    30 March 2012 Metro (London)

    The London Metro free newspaper quotes Ian Brown in an article on how concerns about the Internet have fallen. 'People's trust in the Internet goes up as they use it more often', he says.

  • Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions

    28 November 2011 Parliament TV

    Ian Brown gives evidence to Parliament's Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions on the difficulties in stopping a specific piece of information appearing anywhere on the Internet.

  • E-borders: 'poor, inefficient and over-hyped'

    23 November 2011 BBC Radio 4

    Is the technology introduced at entry points to the UK fit for purpose? Some immigration officers think it is not. Ian Brown contributes to the debate on the security of the UK's borders for Radio 4's Today Programme.

  • Supreme Court case shows confusion over GPS tracking

    16 November 2011 New Scientist

    Is the use of GPS tracking devices without a warrant an unacceptable intrusion, or just another crime-fighting tool? As the US Supreme court considers the question, a profusion of GPS jammers risks creation of GPS–free zones. Ian Brown comments.

  • Life-logging and online personal data; the effects on privacy, economy, society and people's psychology; in new report; "To log or not to log?"

    11 November 2011 European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA)

    Ian Brown is an author of the EU's cyber security agency ENISA's report on the future impact of life-logging and online personal data: "To log or not to log? Risks and benefits of emerging life-logging technologies".

  • IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs

    28 July 2011 BBC

    The Public Administration Committee (PAC) finds that "current arrangements have led to a perverse situation in which governments have wasted an obscene amount of public money" on big government IT projects. Helen Margetts and Ian Brown gave evidence.

  • Newspaper phone-hacking scandal goes beyond voicemail

    12 July 2011 New Scientist

    As the extent of the phone-hacking scandal at News International is revealed, security and privacy expert Ian Brown tells New Scientist that British lawmakers were alerted to the risks from hackers and corrupt insiders, but chose to ignore warnings.

  • The Report

    28 April 2011 BBC Radio 4

    Will this year's census be the last of its kind and do possible alternatives threaten privacy? Ian Brown comments that a mega-data base would be a dangerous threat to privacy and risks being misused.

  • Apple iPhone tracks users' location in hidden file

    26 April 2011 Daily Telegraph

    iPhone users have been alerted to data held by Apple which tracks their movements. In a comment to the Daily Telegraph, privacy expert Ian Brown says the company should have been more open.

  • NHS research system could breach patient confidentiality

    8 February 2011 ComputerWeekly.com

    Article on concerns over a new NHS patient database system mentions that Dr Ian Brown of the OII wrote to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) expressing concerns about privacy.

  • NHS 'misleads patients' over sharing medical records with drug firms

    4 February 2011 The Telegraph

    Article on concerns over a new NHS patient database system mentions that Dr Ian Brown of the OII wrote to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) expressing concerns about privacy.

  • China's Internet Spying

    24 January 2011 Asian Sentinel

    'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' the study co-authored by Ian Brown is quoted in an article about allegations of Chinese government sponsored computer hacking, suggesting that attacks could be government originated, but not necessarily.

  • Cyber war is unlikely, says Oxford study

    18 January 2011 Indian Express

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Cyber warfare is unlikely

    18 January 2011 BBC Radio Oxford

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown, on Joel Hammer morning news show.

  • OECD Security Report: Cyber Attacks Will Be Weapon in Future Wars

    18 January 2011 Voice of America

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Risk of devastating cyber attack still relatively low: OECD report

    18 January 2011 Vancouver Sun

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Cyber attacks could create "perfect storm" - OECD

    17 January 2011 Reuters

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Cyber Attacks Set to Increase

    17 January 2011 The Wall Street Journal

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Hackers will not be deterred by UK cyber defences, report warns

    17 January 2011 The Guardian

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • OECD report outlines risks of cyber warfare

    17 January 2011 Computer Weekly

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Study: unlikely there will ever be a pure ‘cyber war’

    17 January 2011 University of Oxford

    Heavy lobbying, lurid language and poor analysis are inhibiting government planning for cyber protection, according to a new report on Systemic Cyber Security published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

  • Apocalypse in Cyberspace? It's Overdone

    16 January 2011 The New York Times

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • 2010, the year that privacy died?

    31 December 2010 BBC News

    After a year in which the attitude of both Facebook and Google to personal data and privacy has been in the headlines, Ian Brown predicts legal changes over the next few years to make service providers more liable for content.

  • Wikileaks' struggle to stay online

    7 December 2010 BBC News

    Ian Brown is quoted on the difficulties in finding sources of denial-of-service attacks on the Wikileaks website. Joss Wright says that in any case the information has already been released.

  • Risks of cyber war 'over-hyped' says OECD study

    17 November 2010 BBC News

    Coverage of the OECD study 'Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk' coauthored by Ian Brown.

  • Newshour on BBC World Service - Net Neutrality

    7 August 2010 BBC World Service

    Ian Brown says that there will be a real battle in Capitol Hill over Google retaining equal access to the internet or charging for faster connections: 'President Obama was elected on a platform of maintaining net neutrality.'

  • Behind the Blackberry Ban

    6 August 2010 Al Jazeera

    Ian Brown comments on the ban of Blackberry Instant messenger function by Saudi Arabia pointing out that Research in Motion have already been persuaded to give countries like China and India the ability to look at traffic flow through Blackberry networks.

  • 'Inside Story': The UAE suspends Blackberry services

    2 August 2010 Al-Jazeera

    Ian Brown discusses the UAE suspension of Blackberry services on Al Jazeera's 'Inside Story'. Are government concerns about threats posed by devices like the Blackberry legitimate and how much do such restrictions harm freedom of expression and privacy?

  • £10,000 bill for friend to pay over Facebook paedophile 'joke'

    27 July 2010 London Metro

    Commenting on the High Court award of £10,000 in libel damages to a student accused of being a paedophile on Facebook by a former friend, Ian Brown suggests that people should be more careful who they allow to post pictures on their site.

  • James Murdoch vs The British Library

    6 June 2010 The Guardian

    Ian Brown comments on challenges to copyright law.

  • Facebook, Google and Twitter: custodians of our most intimate secrets

    25 May 2010 The Guardian

    Ian Brown quoted on the wealth of personal information held about us by online companies.

  • Google admits wi-fi data collection blunder

    15 May 2010 BBC News

    Ian Brown expects law suits to follow Google error in Street View data collection.

  • Where the parties stand on free speech

    22 April 2010 The Guardian

    Ian Brown questions party representatives on their attitude to the Digital Economy Bill.

  • Innovation: Sending botnets the way of smallpox

    10 March 2010 New Scientis

    Ian Brown contributes to discussion on how to combat malware: 'Government-enforced inoculation programmes would be "enormously controversial", he says.'

  • National: US scientists crack 'anonymous' datasets

    24 January 2010 The Observer

    Ian Brown comments on the successful de-anonymisation of 'anonymous' datasets: '[...] Epidemiologists say they could do interesting research if they had access to more anonymous data. This shows it is difficult to do that in a way that can't be reversed.'

  • Analysis: Index's experts on Hillary Clinton's internet freedom speech

    21 January 2010 Index on Censorship

    Ian Brown: 'Hillary Clinton's support for online freedom is welcome. I hope it leads to a push for Internet companies to make that freedom meaningful.'

  • Now, motion-sensing phones that predict your every move

    14 December 2009 Little About

    Comment by Ian Brown on a system that learns users' behaviour patterns to provide them with an enhanced cellphone service.

  • Can creative industries survive digital onslaught?

    3 November 2009 Financial Times

    Ian Brown discusses the issue of how media businesses that provide content can survive against free online providers of news and other files. New business models are needed, he argues

  • Beijing eases back on harsh plan for online censorship

    20 June 2009 The Globe and Mail

    Ian Brown comments on Chinese Government plans to install filtering software on all new computers. '"The reaction that the initial announcement elicited in China, it does seem to have caused the Chinese government to slightly back off,” said Ian Brown'

  • Oxford Internet Institute Sets Out the Privacy Threats in 2009

    30 April 2009 New Media Knowledge

    Privacy and identity protection online is of constant concern to Internet users. New Media Knowledge speaks to Dr Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute to get his diagnosis on the state of Internet privacy in the UK today

  • Call to scrap 'illegal databases'

    23 March 2009 BBC News

    'A quarter of all government databases are illegal and should be scrapped or redesigned, according to a report by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust': Ian Brown is one of the authors of the 'Database State' Report

  • Quarter of state databases "should be scrapped"

    23 March 2009 Reuters

    'A quarter of government databases in Britain should be scrapped or redesigned because they are fundamentally flawed and probably illegal, a report from a social justice think-tank said': Ian Brown is one of the authors of the 'Database State' Report

  • Quarter of UK's databases are 'illegal'

    23 March 2009 The Independent

    'Researchers called for 11 systems assessed as "almost certainly illegal" under human rights or data protection law to be scrapped or substantially redesigned': Ian Brown is one of the authors of the 'Database State' Report

  • Right to privacy broken by a quarter of UK's public databases, says report

    23 March 2009 The Guardian

    'A quarter of all the largest public-sector database projects, including the ID cards register, are fundamentally flawed and clearly breach European data protection and rights laws, according to a report published today': Ian Brown is one of the authors

  • 10 government databases 'will break the law'

    22 March 2009 Times Online

    'At least 10 of the giant government databases built or planned by ministers unlawfully breach privacy, according to a report': Ian Brown is one of the authors of the 'Database State' Report

  • One in four government websites illegal

    22 March 2009 The Telegraph

    'One in four Government databases are illegal under human rights or data protection and should be scrapped immediately, a panel of experts have warned': Ian Brown is one of the authors of the 'Database State' Report

  • Data time limit stirs search engine debate

    11 December 2008 Financial Times

    'Ian Brown, privacy expert at the Oxford Internet Institute described Microsoft's pledge as a "positive step forward". "It's a real pity organisations such as Google have resisted reducing their retention rates further."'

  • Google lehnt schärferen Datenschutz ab

    11 December 2008 Handelsblatt.com

    Dr Ian Brown comments on Microsoft's customer data pledge

  • Russia and China accused of harbouring cybercriminals

    9 December 2008 Times Online

    'Russia and China are protecting gangs of criminals engaged in cybercrimes such as internet fraud, blackmail and money laundering, a study says today': Ian Brown is one of the authors of the annual Virtual Criminology Report

  • Grant winners

    4 September 2008 Times Higher Education

    Dr Ian Brown wins research funding for Privacy Value Networks (PVNets) Project, which 'will generate a detailed understanding of individuals' and organisations' conceptions of privacy and identity across a range of contexts and time frames'

  • Experts: Internet filtering and censorship rife

    21 August 2008 CNN.com

    'Believe the conspiracy theories: Out of sight and without your knowledge, governments truly are filtering what you see on the Internet': Jonathan Zittrain and Ian Brown comment on Internet filtering and circumvention

  • How Big Brother watches your every move

    17 August 2008 The Telegraph

    'With every telephone call, swipe of a card and click of a mouse, information is being recorded, compiled and stored about Britain's citizens': Ian Brown comments on user data held by search engines and ISPs

  • Why satnavs are a detective's best friend

    3 July 2008 New Scientist

    Ian Brown comments on data privacy: 'It seems likely that secure deletion of personal data will become a popular feature of this type of device sooner rather than later," he says.'

  • Cybercrime agency faces cuts as computer raid threats grow

    4 December 2007 Times Online

    'Ian Brown, of Oxford University, one of the report's authors, said that attacks traced back to China have been found attempting to crack Whitehall passwords'

  • MI5 alert on China's cyberspace spy threat

    1 December 2007 Times Online

    'Ian Brown, of Oxford University, one of the report's authors, said that attacks traced back to China have been found attempting to crack Whitehall passwords'

  • Biometrics are definitely not the answer to the HMRC debacle

    29 November 2007 New Statesman

    Ian Brown and colleagues write an open letter to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights

  • Biometrics won't fix data loss problems

    27 November 2007 The Register

    Ian Brown and colleagues write an open letter to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights, expressing their dismay at the way biometrics has been used as a magic wand which would have supposedly stopped Darling's great data giveaway

  • ID cards criticised as 'fairy tale'

    27 November 2007 Computing

    'The national biometric identity card programme should be suspended until security fears have been eliminated, according to a group of academics'. Ian Brown and colleagues write an open letter to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights

  • Lost disc fiasco could scupper ID card scheme

    27 November 2007 Daily Mail

    'Leading academics have rounded on the Government's "fairytale view" of the technology needed to make the scheme work on its introduction in 2009.' Ian Brown and colleagues write an open letter to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights

  • Modern killers turn to video to get message out

    7 November 2007 Reuters

    Ian Brown comments on the posting on YouTube of a clip announcing a school shooting in Finland: '"New technologies like the Internet get used by a very wide range of people and unfortunately including in events like this," he said.'

  • Burma's cyber-dissidents

    26 September 2007 BBC News

    Ian Brown on the Burmese government's control of Internet use: 'The Burmese government has a very repressive filtering regime... but it can be a bit inconsistent'

  • Safety fears over new register of all children

    27 August 2007 Times Online

    'Ian Brown, a computer security research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, said that the scale of the database posed huge risks'

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Events

Back to: events top | page top

Blog

  • Could a cyber-attack "fatally compromise" the UK military?

    Ian Brown on 9 Jan 2013 15:05PM

    The House of Commons Defence Committee has published a report on Defence and Cyber-Security, which concludes: The evidence we received leaves us concerned that with the Armed Forces now so dependent on information and communications technology, should [...]

  • Workshop on Internet Trust, Reputation, Identity and Privacy

    EINS Project on 27 Sep 2012 08:33AM

    Call for contributions Workshop on Internet Trust, Reputation, Identity and Privacy 09.30-16.30, 4 December, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland Issues of individual trust in the use of personal data, the reputation of online services [...]

  • Confusion reigns over UK Internet freedom

    Ian Brown on 20 Sep 2012 15:40PM

    The UK's Director of Public Prosecutions this morning published an extremely sensible statement after deciding not to prosecute Daniel Thomas, the author of a homophobic tweet about Olympic divers Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield: “This was, in essence, a [...]

  • Privacy standards workshop presentations

    EINS Project on 24 Aug 2012 07:34AM

    Attachments:  AttachmentSize Froomkin.pptx605.64 KB Mueller.pptx103.24 KB Kulesza.pptx971.26 KB Working Groups: Internet Privacy and Identity, Trust and Reputation MechanismsWorking Group: Governance, Regulation and Standards

  • Workshop on technical standards and privacy by design

    EINS Project on 3 Jul 2012 14:28PM

    Technical standards and privacy by design A half-day Internet Science workshop at the University of Oslo Tuesday 21 August Lucien Mehl's room, 4th floor, Domus Nova building, Karl Johans gate 47, Oslo [...]

  • Can the world agree on free speech principles?

    Ian Brown on 24 Jan 2012 23:39PM

    Prof. Timothy Garton Ash and his team at St Antony's College have just launched their fascinating new free speech project, FreeSpeechDebate: Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for [...]

  • Giving evidence to Privacy and Injunctions Committee

    Ian Brown on 29 Nov 2011 18:38PM

    Yesterday I gave evidence to Parliament's Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions. I tried to explain the difficulties in stopping a specific piece of information appearing anywhere on the Internet, particularly in user-generated content and on social [...]

  • Two workshops

    Privacy Value Networks on 24 Nov 2011 16:32PM

    As PVN draws to a close, we will be having two final workshops to disseminate some our results. Please join us! Anonymity, Privacy, and Open Data Wednesday 7 December 2011 16:00 – 18:00 Location: Church House Conference Centre, Dean’s Yard, [...]

  • Internet freedom: EU v US

    Ian Brown on 12 Nov 2011 11:04AM

    A couple of weeks back, I was honoured to give the second seminar in George Washington Law School's distinguished speaker series on Internet Freedom and Human Rights. I discussed Europe's approach to this topic, on which there has been virtual silence in [...]

  • Unconference on privacy and financial inclusion

    Privacy Value Networks on 7 Sep 2011 09:06AM

    PVN is organising an ‘unconference’ on 20th September at Birkbeck College in London. This will be an informal event whose theme will be ‘the role of privacy in achieving social inclusion through financial inclusion’. The aim of the day is to foster [...]

  • Best Short Paper Award at British HCI Conference 2011

    Privacy Value Networks on 9 Jul 2011 14:00PM

    My short paper ‘The Internet as an Empowering Technology for Stigmatized Groups: a Case Study of Weight Loss Bloggers’ has won the Best Short Paper Award at the 25th BCS Conference on Human Computer Interaction HCI 2011. HCI 2011 is the leading conference [...]

  • ENISA reform at the European Parliament

    Ian Brown on 26 May 2011 14:25PM

    This afternoon I'm giving evidence to the European Parliament's industry committee at an expert hearing on the future of the European Network and Information Security Agency. Here is the text of my prepared remarks:ENISA's role in light of current [...]

  • Security and Privacy in Implantable Medical Devices

    Ian Brown on 6 Apr 2011 09:10AM

    Last week I was in Lausanne to speak at a workshop on Security and Privacy in Implantable Medical Devices. It was amazing to see some of the body sensors and actuators being developed by bioengineering researchers and companies. You can see my slides on [...]

  • Privacy, trust and biometrics in Bangalore

    Ian Brown on 21 Mar 2011 06:03AM

    If you're near Bangalore, you might be interested in the talk I'm giving this afternoon at the Indian Institute of Science on Privacy, Trust and Biometrics. This is a hot topic in India right now, due to the government's plans for a high-tech national [...]

  • Hillary Clinton's Internet Freedom 2.0 speech

    Ian Brown on 16 Feb 2011 11:50AM

    Hillary Clinton gave a second speech yesterday on the subject of Internet freedom. Here is my response, written for Index on Censorship:Hillary Clinton is right to say “the choices we make today will determine what the Internet looks like in the future”. [...]

  • The Information Management and Technology Strategies of the NHS Executive

    Ian Brown on 15 Feb 2011 16:41PM

    This is a second document from Philip Virgo on the history of the NHS National Programme for IT.THE 1992 & 1998 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIES OF THE NHS EXECUTIVE (PAC 1999-2000/38)Benefits The key high level statement in Information [...]

  • Public Accounts Committee hearing on the NHS Information Management Strategy

    Ian Brown on 15 Feb 2011 14:44PM

    Philip Virgo has written an excellent summary of the continuing problems of the National Health Service's National Programme for IT. As useful background he has dug up the following evidence given to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee back in [...]

  • Reducing systemic cybersecurity risk

    Ian Brown on 17 Jan 2011 08:45AM

    The OECD has today published a study by myself and Prof. Peter Sommer on Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk:The authors have concluded that very few single cyber-related events have the capacity to cause a global shock. Governments nevertheless need to [...]

  • Learning for Change: the view from 1982

    Ian Brown on 20 Dec 2010 13:36PM

    My colleague Philip Virgo recently dug up his 1982 article on the implications of new-fangled computing technology for education. Through the magic of online OCR, the text is below. Do leave comments on where, with 30 years of hindsight, you think Philip [...]

  • Updating the UK's communications law framework

    Ian Brown on 20 Dec 2010 15:09PM

    The UK government has been consulting over amendments to communications law as a result of recent EU activity. I've contributed to two consultation responses regarding lawful interception and the EU Electronic Communications Framework. Thanks to [...]

Last updated on: 17 May 2013