The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Britain’s privacy watchdog, has reopened its investigation into Google Street View after the company admitted it copied personal data. Google is facing similar pressures from privacy watchdogs in other countries, including Spain, Germany, and Canada. In May, the ICO had investigated revelations that Google had gathered unprotected information but it concluded that no “significant” personal details had been collected. The renewed scrutiny stems from Google’s admission, following analysis by other privacy bodies, that they had harvested more information than previously thought.
Wednesday's Tehran Emruz, featuring a front page that would not normally be associated with this paper
“For the preservation of your newspaper and the health of its managing directors, pay careful attention to the following…” Replica front pages inspire a fake directive from the regime. Negar Esfandiary reports
On Friday, browsing an Iranian website 30 mail, I couldn’t help but notice a repeated image of Ayatollah Khamenei standing before a mammoth crowd. At first I thought it was a online freeze but at a second glance the familiar titles of Iran’s newspapers became apparent. Each was faithfully reporting the Supreme Leader’s trip to Qom, the holy city southwest of Tehran. One front page was barely distinguishable from another.
The website Neda Sabz Azadi took advantage of this comic-tragic state of affairs. Under the headline “Bring a logo, take a newspaper” they spoofed a directive from the “Ministry of Culture’s Press Deputy”.
This timely joke coincided with the day that Reporters Without Borders published its annual Press Freedom Index. Iran classified rock bottom at number 175 of 178 countries.
With the identikit front pages there for all to see, the truth was probably not so far from this five point “leaked” missive. Fiction based on fact from a media well-versed in the language of an authoritarian state. Translation of the “directive” below.
On the occasion of the extremely important trip of our leader — but pertinent to all Muslims in human history — to the holy city of Qom the most important city in the world, photographs and suggested headlines are attached.
For the preservation of the status of your newspaper and the health of its managing directors, pay careful attention to the following points:
1. One photo for half front page usage with at least 75 per cent coverage and up to 150 per cent. Note: Newspapers who have received warnings should make every effort to show their goodwill by printing the photograph at 90 per cent. Other more insider newspapers know what to do.
2.The use of at least one of the headlines below is obligatory:
* Vaccination by ‘88 intrigue (insider papers to all use this)
[Implying that the people were immunised and united after the 2009 post-election uprising.
* Ghadir-e-Ghom (only for use by the most insider papers)
[Alluding to a place of pilgrimage (of the same name) in Saudi Arabia where the prophet Mohammad spoke.]
* The uprising of the people of Qom
* National unity
* A historical day
* Sunshine of revolution in Qom
* Dealing with sanctions3. This applies to all economic, sport, cultural, and scientific newspapers, magazines and weeklys published this week, next week and in the subsequent two weeks.
4. On Wednesday your headline must be set at three times its usual size. We will pay your paper subsidies.
5. Publications that do not have the financial means or printing facilities should provide their national identity card and newspaper logo to the press office and we will print it for them.
Index on Censorship, together with ARTICLE 19, Media Diversity Institute, and Open Society Foundations, will explore the freedom of expression situation ahead of Azerbaijan‘s 7 November elections. This event will mark the launch of their joint report following their recent international freedom of expression mission to Azerbaijan.
Norwegian film-maker Erling Borgen’s documentary The Prisoner from Azerbaijan will be screened, followed by a discussion with Index on Censorship’s Natasha Schmidt, ARTICLE 19′s Rebecca Vincent, and Open Society Foundations’ Stewart Chisholm on the findings of the international mission in the context of Azerbaijan’s pre-elections environment.
When: 6:30pm, Thursday, 28 October 2010
Where: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
Ticket: Free. For more details, please contact Natasha Schmidt natashaindexoncensorshiporg or 0207 324 2525
Observers including Index on Censorship’s Natasha Schmidt report on the country’s climate of fear
Ahead of Azerbaijan’s upcoming parliamentary elections, nine organisations, including Index on Censorship, are launching a new report titled Free Expression under Attack: Azerbaijan’s Deteriorating Media Environment. The report findings come out of a joint freedom of expression mission to the country in September 2010 and highlight the Azerbaijani government’s failure to comply with its international commitments to promote and protect freedom of expression. (more…)
Google has been found in violation of Canadian privacy law. On Tuesday the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, stated in a news release on the Commissioner’s website that Google’s Street View mapping cars had unintentionally gathered personal information about Canadian citizens. This collection of citizens information was a “serious violation of Canadians’ privacy rights,” said Stoddart.
Microsoft is extending its program of giving free software licences to non-profit organisations. The initiative was first applied to Russia, after it was discovered that authorities were using software piracy inquiries as a method of suppressing independent media outlets and advocacy groups. The program will now include 500,000 NGOs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Prior to the announcement NGOs could only obtain a free licence if they were aware of the program and followed the necessary procedure. According to Microsoft’s official blog announcement, the unilateral licence will last until 2012.
The Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) has filed a lawsuit against Google. Following an investigation launched in May, the Street View service has been charged with violating the country’s data protection laws. In August, a judge decided to investigate a similar complaint made by another association (APEDANICA). AEPD says that, if found guilty, Google could be hit with fines of between 84,000 and 840,000 dollars for each offence. Street View has proved controversial in a number of countries, including Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
Index on Censorship, together with ARTICLE 19, Media Diversity Institute, and Open Society Foundations, will explore the freedom of expression situation ahead of 
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