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Happy New Year & Cyber Security – 6 new steps to consider in 2019.

Malware attacks, data breaches, security hacks and microtargeted personalized advertising all formed part of the digital low life in 2018.

In order to keep up with the modern world, technologies must advance. So how does one keep up with security and software protection. With the commencement of 2019 and new software releases, here are a few tips on keeping your digital life free from manipulative use.

Create boundaries and abide by them.

Research shows the best way to stay safe is by setting boundaries. Agree on what data you are happy to share involving online services and apps and stay bound to it. This is preparation for when you are asked to share data falling out of any agreement. Consider reducing your time spent on online discussions and it may be useful to set a time limitation on digital security as it is endlessly time consuming.

Setting filter trends.

People who find news on social media, set their social media feed trends. Due to this those people are unlikely to find news they disagree on as they will be displayed with articles they have previously shown agreement with. This isolates people in developing further views and reduces their chances of generating a different angle.

All Slides and Purple Feed are free online tools that display social media reports and news reports involving different political perspectives. The information comes from across the political spectrum and does not replicate previous search histories.

Having a safe password.

The strength of your password does not determine the safety of your account, as people tend to reuse their passwords for many accounts. It is known that researchers are notified when a reused password has been leaked. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use different passwords. A password manager software can be used to detect hacks. (Do read our article on pin numbers)

Using a multi-factor authentication.

Having an additional pin number, when logging into your financial accounts, social media and emails adds a lot more protection. Multi-factor authentication sends you a six-digit pin code as part of your log in process. For more protection you can even consider a code-generating app.

Deleting apps you no longer use.

Apps loaded on your phone track you and provide your information to marketing and advertising agencies. Therefore, if you no longer use an App delete it and if you need it again, redownload it. This reduces companies tracking where you go, time spent at locations and identity recognition.

Updating the apps you use.

Useful advice provided by experts is to ensure software on your computers and apps on your phone are always kept up to date.

These 6 ideas will help reduce the chances of hackers exploiting your data and allow you to keep safe and on high alert in 2019.

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O’Connor v Bar Standards Board Disciplinary proceedings. A continuous process

Portia O’Connor won a landmark decision earlier this month when the Supreme Court unanimously decided to allow her appeal against the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and find that her claim was not time barred. This decision stems from a line of litigation starting in 2010 when the BSB Complaints Committee brought 6 disciplinary charges against Ms O’Connor. In May 2011 the Disciplinary Tribunal found 5 out of the 6 allegations proved. Ms O’Connor appealed to the Visitors of the Inns of Court who overturned the decision. Following her appeal, in 2013 Ms O’Connor issued proceedings against the BSB alleging a violation of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights read in conjunction with Article 6 ECHR, contrary to section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998). The BSB argued that Ms O’Connor’s claim was time barred under section 7(5)(a) of the HRA 1998. This section prescribes a time limit to bring proceedings of 1 year from the date on which the act complained of took place. The BSB contended that under this statute time started to run from the moment the initial Disciplinary Tribunal found the allegations against Ms O’Connor as proved and therefore the time limit for bringing a claim expired in 2012. Ms O’Connor submitted that time should run from the verdict of the Visitors of the Inns of Court in August 2012. In 2014, Ms O’Connor’s claim for compensation was struck out with the reason being that it was time barred and in any event the evidence did not support such a claim. Ms O’Connor appealed. Mr Justice Warby ruled that her appeal should be allowed in relation to her human rights claim, but that nevertheless it was time barred. Ms O’Connor took her dispute to the Court of Appeal where the then Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, held that the one-year limitation period under the Human Rights Act 1998 to challenge the BSB ran from when the disciplinary tribunal reached its initial verdict. She was given permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court were asked whether the disciplinary proceedings constituted a single continuing act or a series of discrete actions for the purposes of the HRA 1998. The Supreme Court held that the disciplinary proceedings formed a single continuous act even though it consisted of separate steps. This meant that the limitation period commenced when the Visitors of the Inns of Court overturned the Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision in August 2012 not when the allegations against Ms O’Connor were found proved in 2011.The result is that Ms O’Connor was within time when she issued proceedings against the BSB in February 2013. There will be another court case to determine the merits of Ms O’Connor’s claim however the current decision is set to cause waves in the world of disciplinary proceedings.

Robert Pidgeon