Information technology

A House of Commons Library Briefing on attempts to reform the Electronic Communications Code, including the Coalition Government's withdrawn amendment to the Infrastructure Bill in early 2015, and the proposals for reform in the May 2016 Queen's Speech.

Mobile 'not-spots' and 'partial not-spots' - areas where there is currently no mobile coverage and areas which have coverage from some but not all of the 4 mobile networks - currently affect parts of the UK, particularly rural areas. This note summarises Government and industry proposals to extend mobile coverage across the UK.

Net neutrality is the concept that all information and services should have equal and open access online without regard to content, destination or source. Both net neutrality-and the associated concept of the 'open internet'-are considered to be founding principles of the World Wide Web. Concerns that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are looking to circumvent net neutrality principles-deciding how fast data will be transmitted and at what quality-have led to campaigns to explicitly legislate for net neutrality. Without net neutrality campaigners fear a two-tiered service with fast and slow lanes could develop. In the past few years, the EU and other countries have attempted to explicitly legislate to ensure Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operate in a net neutral fashion.

This note updates Government schemes for funding computers in the home, and to increase internet access.

This Standard Note describes e-Government, outlines Government efforts in this field, and related issues.

This Note provides a summary of the recommendations of recent reports, including the report of David Anderson QC, and supporting material on the use of investigatory powers.

Digital forensic science is the process of obtaining, analysing and using digital evidence in investigations or criminal proceedings. Digital evidence ranges from images of child sexual exploitation to the location of a mobile phone. This note looks at the use of digital forensics by UK law enforcement agencies. It covers how evidence is obtained, the legislation and regulation in this area, and the efforts being made to address the challenges faced by practitioners.

Automated technology is increasingly used in military activities such as intelligence gathering, navigation and weapons delivery. The most widespread use of automated technology to date has been remotely piloted air systems. However, each of the main military domains - air, land and sea - make use of automation. This POSTnote outlines current and potential future applications of automation in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and in combat. It then summarises debate over legal, ethical and societal issues, including debate over whether a pre-emptive ban is needed on future lethal autonomous weapons systems.

This note examines forensic language analysis, the scientific validity of procedures and their applications, and explores the issues surrounding their use.