Daily Safeguarding Update

EU reveals plan to regulate big tech companies

Big tech firms face yearly checks on how they are tackling illegal and harmful content under new rules unveiled by the European Commission
Fresh restrictions are also planned to govern their use of customers’ data, and to prevent the firms ranking their own services above competitors’ in search results and app stores
The measures are intended to overhaul how the EU regulates digital markets.
Large fines and break-ups are threatened for non-compliance
It is proposed that if companies refuse to obey, they could be forced to hand over up to 10% of their European turnover
“Recurrent infringers” are warned that they could be made to divest “certain businesses, where no other equally effective alternative measure is available to ensure compliance”
The two new laws involved – the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act – have yet to be passed, so would only come into force after the Brexit transition period has ended

Facebook will shift its UK users onto agreements with the company’s corporate headquarters in California
The move could put UK users out of reach of Europe’s privacy laws
However, Facebook said there will be no change to the privacy controls or the services it offers UK customers
Currently, UK users are governed by agreements with Facebook’s Irish headquarters, but this legal relationship will change following the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU)
“Facebook has had to make changes to respond to Brexit and will be transferring legal responsibilities and obligations for UK users from Facebook Ireland to Facebook Inc,” the social media giant told Reuters, which first reported the story

Twitter has been fined €450,000 (£400,000) by the Data Protection Commission in Ireland for breaking Europe’s GDPR data privacy rules
It’s the first time the EU regulator has penalised a big US tech firm under GDPR legislation
It ruled that Twitter failed to notify it within 72 hours after identifying a data breach in January 2019, and it also did not adequately document what had happened
Twitter has accepted responsibility, blaming “an unanticipated consequence of staffing” during the period between Christmas Day 2018 and 1 Jan 2019

People are being warned to watch out for parcel delivery scams during the Christmas postal rush
Criminals are attempting to defraud consumers by posing as well-known delivery companies, the banking trade body UK Finance has warned
Fraudsters have been sending emails saying they have not been able to deliver goods, and then ask for a fee to rearrange the delivery
They then try to extract financial details which are used to commit fraud
Customers are typically tricked into clicking on links to seemingly genuine websites requesting personal and financial information such as their address, date of birth, mobile number or bank details
In some cases, victims receive a call from the criminal later pretending to be from their bank’s fraud team, trying to persuade them to move their money to a safe account or reveal their pass codes

Birmingham Council has been questioned over when it will be able to guarantee the safety of r children travelling on its SEND home to school transport, after a report was published into the service
The leader of the council has promised that there will be accountability for failures within the service, after a series of incidents at the start of the school year left many vulnerable children unable to travel to school
Speaking yesterday (Dec 15) during a meeting of the city’s Cabinet, Cllr Ian Ward again acknowledged that the service had not been fit for purpose
Problems with the service were so bad back in September that one school was forced to close altogether, while there are also unanswered questions on how many employees of the service failed DBS checks

Children’s rights campaigners have expressed dismay after the government’s preferred candidate to become the next Children’s Commissioner was unable to express a view on whether there should be a ban on the use of corporal punishment in England
Dame Rachel de Souza was giving evidence to MPs on the Commons Education Committee before her almost certain appointment when she was asked if she would follow the lead of the Children’s Commissioners in Scotland and Wales and seek a complete legal ban in England
Although smacking is already illegal in England, parents can claim a defence of “reasonable punishment” under section 58 of the Children Act 2004 which has been removed in Wales and Scotland, making England an outlier
The current Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield, has campaigned for a similar change in the law in England