A political agreement in the European Parliament hopes to resolve the heated discourse over end-to-end encryption and protecting children online. It's a pragmatic way forward that aims to both safeguard against child abuse and maintain confidentiality of communications. It's not yet over the line but from a human rights perspective, it's heading in the right direction.

The European Parliament today adopted a data protection package that is being described as 'historic' and monumental'. The new EU measures update data protection rules for the era of the Internet and social media, including the use of data by police and law enforcement. The hot buttons have been the transfer of data outside the EU - especially to the United States - and how the large digital corporations may exploit data for commercial purposes. For whose benefit is this law and how should we regard it?

"The Home Secretary says it is world leading. Not all people agree with that. Some think it is leading the world over a cliff". Not my words but those of David Anderson Q.C. speaking yesterday at a symposium on the Investigatory Powers Bill hosted by 25 Bedford Row barristers chambers.

The Investigatory Powers Bill comes up for scrutiny in Parliament tomorrow, as the British government tries to push it through before the end of the year. This is the controversial new law that will govern electronic surveillance. But legal experts, who are not usually given to emotive language, say the Bill is bad law, and nothing more than window dressing. From a public interest perspective, the government is rushing the Bill unnecessarily. How safe will our data be under the proposed regime? Will we fall over a digital cliff as the spooks get to play with our Internet connection records?

This report is my interpretation of the legal arguments presented at the 25 Bedford Row symposium on the Investigatory Powers Bill.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will put communications data at the top of his list for new laws after the May 7 general election. Assuming he is re-elected, he wants to extend the range of data that would be legally accessible to the police and intelligence services, on a scale thus far unprecedented. His proposals, justified on the basis of an increased terror threat, will also up the ante in terms of the technology companies that will be obligated to comply. The concern is that Mr Cameron's implied multi-dimensional data retention requirement will also create an apparatus that, without sufficient safeguards and in the wrong hands, will result in a vastly disproportionate, over-arching and unacceptable violation of personal privacy.

It's looking less and less likely that the new EU data privacy rules will be adopted before the 2014 Euro-elections, as the Council of Ministers has effectively blocked the process. Trilogues - tripartite talks between the three major EU institutions - had been proposed to start in January, with the aim of getting an agreement in place by March. But now Iptegrity has obtained confirmation that those plans have been stalled and it is unclear if and when they will be re-started.