Beware of the word "hub"

Some time ago I posted about Internet Connection Records, here, and how they could result in records you may find hard to explain, especially as they were host name and not full URL.

By way of an example I included an image link in the post to the orange/black graphic word "hub" on a well known web site, nothing rude, but as 1x1 pixel so not even something you would see. By doing so your browser would access said web site.

Irony of irony, now, 7 years late, blogger have put a content warning on that post!

I have edited to bold/underline that it is nothing rude, to see if they review and remove it. What is even more ironic is the link I used is no longer even valid, so definitely not rude, but I have updated it now.

But it shows the problems with automated checking of such things, something that is likely to be an issue not just for Internet Connection Records, but for the current Online Safety Bill.

P.S. Another post was "unpublished" as it showed the domain (not as a link) to a PayPal phishing attempt, a domain that is no longer valid - it was a post about it, not itself malware, d'uh.

Legacy

I think I mentioned, having written a bit about my family and growing up, after my dad died, I wondered if I should write an autobiography.

It is not a simple task, and to be frank I am not a writer, so this will be new. But as someone once said: The saying "you only live once" is a lie, you live as many lives as you want and can spend years learning something totally new if you want, over and over again in the years that we all (well, many of us) get.

So I have started, in fact I have a first draft at 100 pages, and over 36,000 words. My approach has not been strictly chronological, as I am crap at dates anyway. Many bits are in order, but some are by topic.

I am not expecting to publish it as such, but you never know. The main audience is my kids. But it needs review and editing - a few close friends to comment on it first and tell me where it is crap (or the few places it is not). It will also need some new bits, I am sure.

Maybe when it is all tidied up I'll release it, I'll see.

For now, here is a snippet.

Dave

So it seems, from what I can tell, under UK GDPR...

✓ Banning someone from your service called "Dave"

Yep, it seems GDPR does not have any issue with your refusing someone "joining a service" based on some aspect of their personal information as long as it it not some discrimination related protected characteristic. So if you designed your system to not allow anyone called "Dave" you can do that.

✓ Banning someone changing their name to "Dave"

Surprisingly, despite the UK GDPR "right to rectification", a company, it seems, according to the ICO and even the parliamentary ombudsman, a company can refuse your changing personal information in any way they like as long as it is a "technical issue". I.e. if you designed a system that cannot handle some specific personal information for some arbitrary reason (such as a short email address, or a name of "Dave") then that is a valid excuse, even though nothing in UK GDPR seems to say it is a valid excuse, and you can refuse to allow the change.

Yep, it is all messed up. What a surprise!

P.S. changing your name to Dåve would probably be something you can insist on, due to case law: https://gdprhub.eu/index.php?title=Court_of_Appeal_of_Brussels_-_2019/AR/1006