Hey devs! Confused by EU privacy law? Pull out the FLASH CARDS

Microsoft and University of Nottingham researchers say developers should be taught to design privacy and security using flash cards if they find wordy regulation documents onerous. The team including Redmond's Ewa Luger and the University's Lachlan Urquhart, Tom Rodden, and Michael Golembewski say regulation is out-of-touch …

[Neil Barnes]

On the other hand

They were doing oh-so-well until they included the faux-word ideation.

There was really no excuse for that.

[keithpeter]

Re: On the other hand

Yup - I winced when I read that word.

However a set of cards like this about, say, protected characteristics or about, say, safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children would lead to discusssion of the issues among people who work with members of the GBP.

Much better than the 'online training' that we get that consists of multiple choice quizzes about pointless facts. It should be possible to produce a 'facilitator's guide' to using the cards with a group of staff so no expensive external trainer needed.

Nice find

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: On the other hand

Not a fake word in India... My cow-orkers in Chennai use that word all at least once a day in email.

[frank ly]

We need better writers

"... regulation is out-of-touch and can be better explained with printable image cards."

If a 'regulation' is written so badly that it can't be easily understood by a competent person who makes an effort to read it, then it needs some serious rewriting.

[Richard Taylor 2]

Re: We need better writers

As the campaign for Plain English (in the UK) has been trying to persuade government and business to do for many years. Falls on deaf ears far too often though, and as a side effect provides benefits to lawyers and allows government wriggle room

[zhveurnq]

Re: We need better writers

Do you mean the Plain English Campaign? Hmmm. Some of the things which get the Crystal Mark are less than edifying examples of crystal clear English, notably DVLA driving licence renewal application notes for the over 70s which are sliced and diced into the same notes for banned driver reapplications and are liberally peppered with goto statements, and have even lucid 70-year-olds running to a helpful relative. Being charitable I suppose it is a reasonable test that convicted alcoholic drivers have actually reformed their ways but if you try telling the PEC that the document concerned may not be quite up to the standards of English that one might expect, you receive a petulant silence. Well ok, I interpreted it as a petulant silence. If I were of a cynical bent, I might think that the following extract may provide something of an explanation:

http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/services/crystal-mark.html

"There is a fee for the Crystal Mark unless you are a corporate member. The fee for the Crystal Mark is normally £500 + VAT. However, we may be able to group a number of documents together so you only pay the fee once. Or, if you only have one small document, we will reduce this fee to £200 + VAT."

[Anonymous Coward]

Could someone perhaps explain why

"Your users are women" is a factor comparable with "Your users are blind", "Your users are children", "Your users suffer from poor mental health", "Your users are ex-offenders" and "Your users are adults with low levels of literacy"?

[Alienrat]

Re: Could someone perhaps explain why

"Your users are women"

Yes, one of the first things I noticed, obviously some kind of impairment. Maybe it is OK if you just allow your user interface to be switched to pink - isn't that how you deal with the tricky 'women using things' problem?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Could someone perhaps explain why

I want a pink UI!

Only people who use words like ideation could think publishing that card was ever going to go down well. No surprise this came out of Jubilee campus ;)

[DNTP]

Re: Could someone perhaps explain why

The "your users are women" card is a pre-emptive Roarshach test for the lads on your design team. You measure the deviation in their answers between the "women" and "everyone" situation cards, and then use that to determine who you should have a quiet word with before they blurt out something regressive at a management meeting.

[heyrick]

You users are...

Women? Ex offenders? Everybody?

Surely the point here is that there are questions that just don't need to be asked...?