Cyber security after Brexit

The previous 4 blog posts focused on the impact Brexit will have or had to academia, jobs, the turnout at the latest general elections compared to EU referendum and the fact that history repeats itself. All these are common concerns of the society but since the main focus of the blog is the young generation there is an issue that needs to be addressed in the end.

That is the personal data people share at numerous of websites and mobile applications. This topic seems to be more applicable for youngsters as they use internet more than older generations, statistically at least.

For this case, law is clear but not simple to implement.

As current Chancellor of Exchequer has suggested there will be an interim period of two years for businesses to adjust at new reality. During this time the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applied in EU will remain in force as well as the new version of the regulation which is expected to be applied from the 25^th of May 2018.

Since UK will abandon the European Economic Area (EEA) it means that the GDPR won’t be in effect leaving a legislative gap that policy makers will need to cover. That does not only influence the flow of data between the EU and the UK but also the protection of it.

The government will need to apply an ‘adequacy jurisdiction’ status with the European Commission in order to conform with EU’s new framework. It is important to mention that such a process can take several years to be accomplished meaning that companies will need additional measures to protect and transfer data from UK to EU and vice-versa.

It seems very likely that adopting the text of the new GDPR will be the simplest and less painful option for the government to avoid trade and cyber security issues.

It’s not the type of safety youngsters would like to have but for those who are concerned it can be regarded as progress. 

                                     cyber security 

Britain's return to EU

While having a quick look of the historic relationship between UK and EU it can be noticed that was more a marriage of convenience rather than true love.  During ‘50s Britain opposed to the membership of Steel and Coal community. In 1955 when the first steps of entering the common market were made Britain stepped away and recently after EU was formed Prime Minister Macmillan observed Union with extreme scepticism. Shortly after the country formally joined the rest of Europe in 1973 Margaret Thatcher asked for her “money back”.  

But as Boethius stated “history is a wheel” therefore it repeats itself.

Right now it seems that Britain is positioned at the bottom of the wheel or is heading to it which reminds, in certain cases, the previously mentioned historic examples.

At the moment negotiations are not progressing the way government hoped for which creates even further uncertainty in the market as Britain is having 18 months to agree on citizens rights and financial obligations to EU before the formal separation and trading deals can be discussed.   

If the UK ends with no deal, as the worst case scenario, long-term financial forecasting showed a 7% to 10% loss of GDP until 2030. Under this circumstance sterling will suffer heavy losses making imported goods and services more expensive, unemployment will rise and people will have less disposable income to spend that generates value for the economy.

That will result to the dissatisfaction of society with the government, who has been labelled as “Leavers”, and claim that they have been deceived. This creates a chance for the current young generation to participate at the political scheme and reassure that decisions capable of shaping the country for the next decades won’t be made without listening to the opinions and uncertainties of young people.

Hopefully this scenario will never happen but regardless some of the young people will become politicians and the statement of Guy Verhofstadt that Britain will return to EU might come true. 

                                     UK return to EU

Youngsters on snap election and referendum

Someone could rightfully argue that Brexit created a lot of uncertainty in the market and formed an additional division in the society, this time between youngsters and their elders.

During political campaigns there was a notion that UK will eventually remain in EU which sent false messages to young people that they should not be extremely worried but going to polling stations would be something good. Probably not the right way of thinking, in my humble opinion, but things changed.

As mentioned in a previous blog post even though the majority of the youth voted to remain the turnout was significantly low given the circumstances. Only 36% of 18-24 years-old voters participated but that – fortunately – improved for the parliamentary election. The term “fortunately” does not refer to the result itself, as it’s not relevant at the moment, but mostly for the message youngsters transmitted to current leaders.

For the latest general election the turnout rose to 64% making it the biggest percentage in the past 25 years. That outcome can have multiple meanings but two of them seem to be the most significant ones.

On the one hand, it can be regarded as a result which political party leaders could not foresee and they will treat it as an event that most likely will not be repeated in the near future. 

On the other hand, it can be perceived as an indication that youngsters learned from their low participation during Brexit vote and from now on they will stay updated when it comes to political matters to make the best possible decisions in the future for them and the generations to come.  

At the moment it is hard to make any concrete statements whether or not the mobilization of young people during the snap election made them aware of how much voting power they have collectively.

However we can express with certainty that the younger generation is not so alienated from politics, as we thought it was. Not anymore.

                                      Youngsters and politics 

Brexit impact on UK universities

Some days ago I thought that someone, somewhere in Europe or UK must have conducted a research to find out how young adults feel and think about Brexit and with some effort I came across with interesting results. The survey took place in 10 European countries and 1,000 students were asked about the impact Brexit will have on their education, funding, campus diversity and career opportunities. 

To begin with, the survey had mixed results as 70% of students from Belgium, Germany, France, Romania and Norway said Brexit won’t impact their education plan whereas 46% of UK students, 45% of Danish students and 30% of Greek, Spanish and Italian had the opposite opinion.

When it comes to funding, probably some financial programs created for EU nationals to study in Britain will cease to exist and the weaker sterling doesn’t make UK a more favourable destination as someone might expect.  

Regarding the campus diversity students believe they will get influenced in multiple ways. Initially, they expressed the concern that academics and scholars will consider going elsewhere if the university environment changes negatively. Moreover, there is a notion that the exchange programs will be affected as UK universities will possibly lose a number of their EU partners.

For the long-term future there were mixed thoughts as well. 42% of Danish students, 41% of Italian, 39% of Spanish and 38% of Romanian students said Brexit will have a negative impact on their careers. Others believed that the market will have to adjust to the new reality; therefore possible gaps will be created but even that statement is too broad.

At this point of time nobody can accurately predict what future will bring for current and prospect students.

UK universities are transmitting messages of reassurance that internationals are welcome but governmental involvement is highly important to decrease the levels of uncertainty. Simply by telling students everything will continue as normal is not enough! 

                                     Brexit on UK universities 

Things will change! Or not?

At the 23^rd of June 2015 United Kingdom decided to leave European Union, making it the biggest event in the history only after the Second World War, and yes it was even bigger than entering. There has been a lot of discussion about the effect of Brexit to the economy, health and in some cases education, but like many I have a question. Has anyone thought about the generations to come? This enquiry comes since not many political leaders and their party members have tried to give any fundamental answers.

To begin with the good news, it was announced that tuition fees won’t change for EU students commencing studies the academic year 2017/2018 and for Scotland until 2018/2019. Bad news is that there are no guarantees for next years and most probably EU students will be called to pay the standard international fee so maybe start thinking of saving up.

Concerns arose about the possibility that EU students will need a visa to study in UK and it has not been clear yet, but as it seems they will have to apply for short-term study visa or Tier 4 study visa since the government decided to abandon the Free Movement of People. This won’t come into effect if the administration can reach an agreement with their European counterparts on that matter but this looks really unlikely to happen as talks will be delayed for a period of time because negotiators can’t agree on the citizen’s rights.

For UK youngsters the same terms will be applied as well when studying or working in EU even though 73% of 18-24 years old and 62% of 25-34 years old voted to remain.

Do you think is possible to have a Free Movement of People only for students?

                                                                    Brexit Referendum