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Paul Bernal

Lecturer in Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Media Law, University of East Anglia

Paul Bernal is a Lecturer in Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Media Law in the UEA School of Law. His background is unusual for a legal academic. His first degree was in mathematics, at Cambridge University, 20 years ago, and he is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Over the last 20 years he has worked as an auditor, in finance for big companies in the City, done pioneering work in the early days of the internet, including setting up and running the first online real-time education system for children to operate in the UK, and been finance director of a charity dealing with mental health and criminal justice.

That lead him to the study of human rights law - his PhD at the LSE concerned the interaction between human rights and internet privacy and in particular, the commercial gathering and use of personal data - particularly by organisations like Google and Facebook - and how that use affects our lives, and will increasingly affect our lives in the future.

Paul’s current research centres around internet related issues: privacy, surveillance, freedom of expression and other human rights. He looks at the role of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and how the law deals with our interactions with each other, with businesses and with authorities. A book based in part on his PhD, titled ‘Internet Privacy Rights: rights to protect autonomy’, will be published in early 2014 by Cambridge University Press.

Fake news: if you care about being lied to you'll be more careful about the way you use social media

May 16, 2017 13:58 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Fake news has become big news over the past few months. And thats mainly due to the election of Donald Trump, who is famously given to accusing his critics of making up stories about him, but who is himself arguably the...

How the UK passed the most invasive surveillance law in democratic history – and what we can do about it

Nov 24, 2016 00:04 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

You might not have noticed thanks to world events, but the UK parliament recently approved the governments so-called Snoopers Charter and it will soon become law. This nickname for the Investigatory Powers Bill is well...

Economy

Asian Stocks Rebound on Tech Rally Despite Trade War Worries

Asian stock markets rebounded modestly on Tuesday following sharp losses in the previous session, as a rally in U.S. tech stocks and bargain-hunting lifted investor sentiment. Most major regional indices climbed, even as...

Nikkei Soars 6.5% as Wall Street Recovery Spurs Market Rebound

Japans Nikkei share average surged 6.5% on Tuesday, rebounding sharply from a 1.5-year low hit in the previous session. The rally was driven by investor confidence sparked by signs of a U.S. market recovery and optimism...

Trade Wars Heat Up: EU and China Push Back Against US Tariffs

The European Union is in trade talks with the United States to ease trade tensions and has concluded a zero-for-zero tariff agreement on industrial products. The proposal is for reciprocal removal of tariffs, but the EU is...

Taiwan Open to U.S. Tariff Talks Amid Market Volatility

Taiwans Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung stated Tuesday that the island is ready to engage in tariff negotiations with the United States at any time, aiming to ease trade tensions that recently rocked financial markets. His...

Safe-Haven Currencies Rise as Trump Tariffs Trigger Recession Fears

The Japanese yen and Swiss franc held near six-month highs on Tuesday, reflecting investor anxiety as recession fears grow in the wake of President Donald Trumps aggressive tariffs. Financial markets remain jittery, with...

Politics

Vice Admiral Chatfield Fired Amid Trump’s Pentagon Shake-Up

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, a top NATO representative and one of the Navys few female three-star officers, has been dismissed, according to sources cited by Reuters. Though the Pentagon has not officially...

DHS Offers Voluntary Resignation and Buyouts Up to $25K Amid Workforce Shift

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is offering employees voluntary resignation, early retirement, or buyouts of up to $25,000 as part of a new workforce transition initiative. According to an internal memo sent...

DOJ Repeals Biden-Era Gun Dealer Policy Amid Controversy

The U.S. Department of Justice has repealed a Biden-era zero tolerance policy that mandated the revocation of licenses for gun dealers who willfully committed serious violations, including failing to conduct background...

UN World Food Program Urges Reinstatement of US Funding Amid Global Hunger Crisis

The UN World Food Program (WFP) has raised alarm after the US administration abruptly ended emergency food assistance funding for 14 countries. As the worlds largest provider of food aid, the WFP warns that the cuts could...

U.S. and India Discuss Trade Tariffs Amid Ongoing Bilateral Deal Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a phone call on Monday to address escalating trade tensions, focusing on U.S. tariffs on Indian imports and efforts toward a fair...

Science

AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi Gets US Approval for Bladder Cancer Treatment

AstraZenecas drug Imfinzi (NASDAQ: AZN) has received U.S. approval to treat adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a significant advancement in cancer therapy. The approval allows Imfinzi to be used in...

Sanofi’s New Hemophilia Drug Qfitlia Gains FDA Approval with Breakthrough Bimonthly Dosing

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Qfitlia, a groundbreaking hemophilia treatment by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY). Designed for patients aged 12 and older with hemophilia A or B,...

FDA Vaccine Chief Peter Marks Resigns Amid Controversy Over Transparency

Peter Marks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) top vaccine official, has resigned after reportedly being forced out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to The Wall Street Journal....

What are the chances an asteroid will impact Earth in 2032?

For a few days in mid-February, headlines around the world buzzed about the potential for an asteroid to hit the Earth in 2032 specifically, asteroid 2024 YR4. The chance of this impact rose to a high of 3.1 per cent on...

A new study reveals the structure of violent winds 1,300 light years away

The planet WASP-121b is extreme. Its a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star50 times closer than the Earth does around the Sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces...

Technology

Telegram Fined $80K by Moscow Court for Extremist Content Refusal

A Moscow court has fined Telegram Messenger Inc. 7 million roubles (approximately $80,000) for refusing to remove content allegedly promoting extremist activities, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Court...

Meta Unveils Llama 4 Maverick and Scout, Boosts AI Ambitions

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has unveiled its latest AI modelsLlama 4 Maverick and Llama 4 Scoutcalling them its most advanced large language models (LLMs) to date. Designed as multimodal AI systems, they can process and...

Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Heads to Jury Trial in 2026

Elon Musks high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI is set for a jury trial in spring 2026, as ruled by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The case centers on Musks...

Intel, TSMC Eye Joint Venture Amid U.S. Chip Industry Crisis

Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) are in early talks to form a joint venture to manage Intels U.S. chip factories, according to The Information. TSMC is expected to take a 20% stake in the new entity....

SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin Win $13.5B in Space Force Launch Contracts

The U.S. Space Force has awarded $13.5 billion in rocket launch contracts through 2029 to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Blue Origin under its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 program. This...