Jennifer Cobbe
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jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Jennifer Cobbe
@jennifercobbe.bsky.social
1.3K followers 710 following 360 posts
Tech law @cambridgelaw.bsky.social

https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/j-cobbe/83662
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jennifercobbe.bsky.social
This story gets more ridiculous by the day

But now we know airlines are giving passenger data to the Home Office, who are passing information about travel* to HMRC, who then use it to make decisions about stopping benefits

(*or, in this case, not travel)

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Morris-Almond is one of 23,500 people who have had their child benefit stopped by HMRC in the past few weeks as part of the government’s crackdown on benefit fraud. But unlike many others, she did not encounter border control or travel to an airport, suggesting that the Home Office immigration operations could have had access to passenger records. In response to earlier inquiries, the Home Office said operators of international passenger services were “required by law to provide information to the Home Office about each service and the people onboard for international journeys to and from the UK”. They said the information was needed for immigration, customs and police purposes including border security and law enforcement.
October 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
This is beyond stupid. People flying out from Belfast and back through Dublin having child benefit stopped because HMRC assumes they've left the country

I know GB forgets Northern Ireland exists, but what are they playing at

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Parents in Northern Ireland have had their child support payments stopped as part of the UK government’s crackdown on alleged benefit fraud simply because they returned from a holiday via Dublin airport. So far 346 families have had their benefits frozen, an investigation by NI online newspaper, the Detail, shared with the Guardian, has discovered. The extraordinary mistake comes in the wake of a new anti-fraud system designed to track those who leave the country but do not come back after eight weeks, raising a red flag at HMRC for possible emigration. The problem in Northern Ireland is many families routinely fly out of Belfast but return via Dublin, which is often cheaper and offers many more flights, leaving HMRC with the impression a passenger has not returned.
October 26, 2025 at 7:10 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
He is less direct about - but does not leave unsaid - the implication that, in ignoring human rights law, the Supreme Court in FWS created a legal situation which itself is potentially incompatible with the UK's human rights obligations
The European Court of Human Rights (the Court) has recognised that, the very essence of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) being respect for human dignity and human freedom, it guarantees the right of trans people to personal development and to physical and moral security. Gender identity is covered as an aspect of private life under Article 8 of the Convention. This protection entails an obligation to provide for legal gender recognition, in order to avoid the unsatisfactory situation in which trans people live in an “intermediate zone [as] not quite one gender or the other” (Christine Goodwin v. the United Kingdom). The Court has further emphasised the importance of the impact on trans people of a discordance between their social reality and the law, with the coherence of the administrative and legal practices within the domestic system being an important factor in assessing whether there has been a violation of Article 8 (Hämäläinen v. Finland). It should be ensured that steps taken towards implementing the Supreme Court judgment avoid a situation where a person’s legal gender recognition is voided of practical meaning, to the extent that it leaves trans people in an unacceptable “intermediate zone”. Where possible, inconsistencies within the domestic system, particularly with regard to the interplay between key legal frameworks such as the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act, which could lead to legal uncertainty or to dissonance between the lived experiences of trans people and their treatment in law, should be avoided. It is also to be recalled that not all trans people wish to obtain legal gender recognition, and in reality simply live according to their gender identity. This does not in any way diminish their right to be treated with dignity, to be protected from discrimination, and to be able to participate in all areas of everyday life.
October 14, 2025 at 9:47 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights is clear that if the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance on trans people is as expected, it will be essentially impossible to reconcile with the UK's human rights obligations

rm.coe.int/letter-to-pa...
As I note in my end-of-visit statement, I observe a tendency to see the human rights of different groups as a zero-sum game. This has contributed to narratives which build on prejudice against trans people and portray upholding their human rights as a de facto threat to the rights of others. Such a zero-sum approach risks certain inferences being drawn from the UK Supreme Court judgment that could lead to widespread exclusion of trans people from many public spaces. This, in turn, may severely infringe on their ability to participate fully and equally in society. This is particularly the case, as discussions about how access to services and facilities will have to be regulated following the judgment have tended towards the exclusion of trans people. It would therefore be crucial for all stakeholders to receive clear guidance on how inclusion of trans people can be achieved across all areas, and how exclusion can be minimised to situations in which this would be strictly necessary and proportionate, in line with well established human rights principles. In reality, tensions between the human rights of different groups in this context are likely to be exceptional in nature, and resolvable through nuanced, reasonable and balanced accommodations. This would also be in line with the approaches taken by various bodies of the Council of Europe (such as the Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) or the Group of Experts on Violence Against Women (GREVIO)), which recognise the particular vulnerability of trans people, and which begin from the position of their inclusion within spaces according to their gender identity – with exceptions made on a case-by-case basis as necessary. Another area of concern is that blanket practices or policies on access to gender-segregated spaces could be put in place, which would require trans people to habitually “out” themselves publicly when accessing services or facilities, either directly (by being asked about their…
October 14, 2025 at 9:40 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 5:55 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Shame - Cutthroat Blood Orange - Essex Honey Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party
October 5, 2025 at 9:33 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Nick Clegg and Claire Fox pop in to tell us the UK is doing free speech wrong
"The UK is "out of whack" with other countries, according to Sir Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister who later became right-hand man to Zuckerberg. He believes the UK needs to "think long and hard" about "whether we've overdone it" on policing speech. "Surely part of the definition of being in a free society is people say ghastly things, offensive things, awful things, ugly things, and we don't sweep them under the carpet," he has said. For those who believe that free speech is under threat in the country, these figures can be used as evidence that decades of political correctness has had a chilling effect on people's ability to express their opinions. "Our definitions of what constitutes hate speech, and I think a very broadened definition of what constitutes harm, is meaning that people feel like they are walking on eggshells and they're frightened - not just that they'll have the police around, but that they'll be cancelled if they say the wrong thing," the former Brexit Party MEP Baroness Claire Fox told the BBC's The World Tonight.
September 23, 2025 at 7:20 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
After whimpering about Farage saying the UK is like North Korea in front of the Americans, he says "But Farage is not alone in questioning how far restrictions to freedom of speech have gone in the UK" and then frames the piece like this:
Quote from article: "During his recent visit, US Vice-President JD Vance said he did not want the UK to go down a "very dark path" of losing free speech. The US business magazine Forbes carried an editorial this month that took this argument further still. In it, editor-in-chief Steve Forbes condemned the UK's "plunge into the kind of speech censorship usually associated with tin pot Third World dictatorships". He argues that, in stark contrast to the United States - where free speech is protected by the first amendment to the constitution, "the UK has, with increasing vigour, been curbing what one is allowed to say, all in the name of fighting racism, sexism, Islamophobia, transgenderism, climate-change denial and whatever else the woke extremists conjure up". So, how exactly did we get to the point where the UK is being compared to a dictatorship and, given how inflamed the conversation has become, what - if anything - would it take to turn down the heat?"
September 23, 2025 at 7:15 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Nick Robinson credulously wonders how the UK got to the point where Farage and Vance and Steve Forbes compare it to North Korea and a "tin-pot dictatorship"

And it's all about Lucy Connolly and Graham Linehan and young people doing cancel culture

What the actual fuck is this
Headline from a BBC article: "Nick Robinson: How the simmering row over freedom of speech reached boiling point"
September 23, 2025 at 7:10 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Someone at the BBC needs to learn about the far right and internet culture, quickly
Extract from BBC news live post by Mike Wendling entitled "Bullet casing inscriptions give possible clue to motive": "The markings on the bullets described by authorities indicate that the suspect, Tyler Robinson, was steeped in online culture and included references to the Antifa, or the anti-fascist, movement. A fired shell casing was inscribed with “notices bulges OwO what’s this?” - a reference to a “copypasta” - a piece of text that is repeated over and over again, often to troll people online. Authorities say one unfired casing had the words “Hey fascist! Catch!” and an up, right and three down arrows. The three down arrows alone could be a common symbol used to represent the anti-fascist movement. As a whole, the sequence of arrows could reference a gaming cheat code - although this remains unclear, and authorities have not yet released images of the casings. A second casing had the lyrics to a song “Bella Ciao” inscribed on it. The song honours WWII-era partisans of the Italian resistance who fought Nazi Germany. The third unfired casing was inscribed with the words “If you read this, you are gay lmao” - again an apparent reference to online trolling humour. Antifa is a loose collection of far-left activists who have been active in the US over the last decade, at street protests and other events. They often oppose Trump's policies and far-right groups."
September 12, 2025 at 7:34 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Evergreen
Screenshot of tweet "Tech enthusiasts: My entire house is smart. Tech workers: The only piece of technology in my house is a printer and I keep a gun next to it so I can shoot it if it makes a noise I don't recognize."
September 2, 2025 at 4:08 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Compare the list of projects being scrapped in the first two paragraphs with the claim in the third paragraph that they're focusing on society's greatest challenges
Among the projects slated for closure are work on developing AI systems to detect online harms, producing AI tools that can help policymakers tackle issues such as inequality and affordability in the housing market and measuring the impact in health inequality of major policy decisions like lockdowns. Other projects expected to close include an AI-based analysis of how the government and media interact. A project looking at social bias in AI outcomes will also be dropped. Projects being paused include a study into how AI might affect human rights and democracy, as well as research into creating a global approach to AI ethics. A spokesperson for ATI said: “We’re shaping a new phase for the Turing, and this requires substantial organisational change to ensure we deliver on the promise and unique role of the UK’s national institute for data science and AI. As we move forward, we’re focused on delivering real-world impact across society’s biggest challenges, including responding to the national need to double down on our work in defence, national security and sovereign capabilities.”
August 10, 2025 at 10:38 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Text from techradar: https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/chatgpt/chatgpt-users-are-not-happy-with-gpt-5-launch-as-thousands-take-to-reddit-claiming-the-new-upgrade-is-horrible "A lot of the uproar surrounding GPT-5 is based on the overpromising from Sam Altman, who hyped up the latest announcement as if it were going to revolutionize the world and the way we interact with AI"
August 8, 2025 at 9:20 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
18 years of complete inability to do anything

www.wesleyjohnston.com/roads/a5omag...
Timeline of decisions and challenges to construction of the A5 in Northern Ireland, from 2007 through to 2025
August 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
The UK public's actual reaction to age verification
Polling from YouGov showing that 80% of all Britons (69% of men, 89% of women) support age verification
July 29, 2025 at 8:43 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Every AI bro using ChatGPT
July 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Does anyone know what the CJEU is talking about in the last sentence of para 16 here
13. Mr Breyer has accessed several websites operated by German Federal institutions. On the websites, which are accessible to the public, those institutions provide topical information. 14. With the aim of preventing attacks and making it possible to prosecute ‘pirates’, most of those websites store information on all access operations in logfiles. The information retained in the logfiles after those sites have been accessed include the name of the web page or file to which access was sought, the terms entered in the search fields, the time of access, the quantity of data transferred, an indication of whether access was successful, and the IP address of the computer from which access was sought. 15. IP addresses are series of digits assigned to networked computers to facilitate their communication over the internet. When a website is accessed, the IP address of the computer seeking access is communicated to the server on which the website consulted is stored. That connection is necessary so that the data accessed maybe transferred to the correct recipient. 16. Furthermore, it is clear from the order for the reference and the documents before the Court that internet service providers allocate to the computers of internet users either a ‘static’ IP address or a ‘dynamic’ IP address, that is to say an IP address which changes each time there is a new connection to the internet. Unlike static IP addresses, dynamic IP addresses do not enable a link to be established, through files accessible to the public, between a given computer and the physical connection to the network used by the internet service provider.
July 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Kent Police casually confirming that they view the Palestinian flag and signs saying "Free Gaza" and "Israel is committing genocide" as indicating potential membership of or support for a proscribed terrorist group
A Kent police spokesperson said: “Under the Terrorism Act it is a criminal offence to carry or display items that may arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation such as Palestine Action.”
July 17, 2025 at 7:43 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
This thread
July 7, 2025 at 9:40 AM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Graduation day for @queens.cam.ac.uk undergrads
Students lined up in their gowns ready to leave Queens' College to go to their graduation ceremony Students lined up in their gowns outside Senate House in Cambridge, ready to go in for their ceremony An official standing at the exit of the Senate House in Cambridge holding a sign that says "Quiet please ceremony in progress" Students and family gathered outside the Senate House in Cambridge after their ceremony
July 3, 2025 at 5:31 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Screensot of another tweet: "So yes, I do think I have a better insight than the president of the company."
June 17, 2025 at 10:15 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Starmer's instincts as razor sharp as ever
Screenshot of posts: the first is Starmer saying he's confident Trump will avoid getting involved in the Iran-Israel conflict; the second is JD Vance saying Trump could take action against Iran's nuclear program; the third is Trump saying they'll come down hard if Iran does anything to "our people"
June 17, 2025 at 4:12 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Monday: anti-immigrant riots and attacks in Ballymena

Yesterday: police said they prevented a pogrom

Today: attacks being planned in the open, on Facebook,

Tonight: leisure centre hosting people driven out of their homes is set on fire
From BBC News "A leisure centre in Larne was attacked as a third night of violence broke out in Northern Ireland on Wednesday. During the violence on Monday and Tuesday, the worst of which took place in Ballymena, 32 officers were injured and six people arrested. Earlier this afternoon, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council confirmed the leisure centre had provided emergency shelter for families in urgent need following disturbances in Ballymena."
June 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Derry Girls already workshopped this
May 8, 2025 at 11:58 PM
jennifercobbe.bsky.social
Weizenbaum on people being weird with chatbots, 1976
Excerpt from Joseph Weizenbaum's 'Computer Power and Human Reason': "I knew of course that people form all sorts of emotional bonds to machines, for example, to musical instruments, motorcycles, and cars. And I knew from long experience that the strong emotional ties many programmers have to their computers are often formed after only short exposures to their machines. What I had not realised is that extremely short exposures to a relatively simple computer program could induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people"
April 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM