Rebecca Sentance

Rebecca Sentance

Experienced digital journalist and editor specialising in marketing, emerging technology, search, and ecommerce. Currently Deputy Editor at Econsultancy.

Pirate Party UK •

GDPR, Brexit, and data protection in the UK

The Pirate Party UK has a strong stance on data privacy and an individual’s control over their own data. As members of the EU, we also adopt rules based on EU regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation, a major update to the EU’s privacy laws which came into effect on 25th May, 2018. This article examines how Brexit may or may not impact the GDPR as it applies to the UK, and our overall data privacy laws, once we are no longer a member of the EU.
openDemocracy •

Why whistleblowers are essential to democracy

In a functioning democracy, it is absolutely crucial for power to be held to account. For this we need whistleblowers. On January 17, 2017, whistleblower Chelsea Manning's 35-year prison sentence was commuted to seven years from her date of arrest, in one of President Obama's last acts before leaving office. At the time of her commutation, Private Manning had spent more time behind bars than any other person in US history who had disclosed information considered to be in the public interest.
But is it journalism? •

The death of Vine: Did Vine ever live up to its potential as a journalistic tool?

At the end of last month, Twitter dropped a bombshell: it would be killing off Vine, the app for creating and posting six-second looping videos. Vine was a big deal back in the days of 2012 and 2013 when short-form video on the internet wasn’t all that common. This was before Twitter introduced the ability to add 30-second video clips to your tweets, so Vine provided a way for people to share video content on Twitter for the first time.
Share Radio •

The World This Week: Michael Hewson on the EU delay in granting market economy status to China

The Chinese markets are still front and centre in economic news, and this week brought the revelation that the European Commission has again postponed the decision on whether to grant market economy status to China. I spoke to Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, about what market economy status would mean for China and why the EU has been so reluctant to make this decision. The interview was broadcast on Share Radio's 'The World This Week' show, presented by Rita Lobo, which loo
London Student •

LS15: 70% of young people 'absolutely certain to vote' on 7 May

New YouGov polling figures show that 70 per cent of young people aged 18-24 are ‘absolutely certain to vote’ in Thursday’s election. The survey (pdf), which was conducted from the 3rd-4th May, asked respondents to rate how likely they were to vote on the 7th on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being ‘certain NOT to vote’ and 10 being ‘absolutely certain to vote’. Its figures show a marked increase in participation from the youngest age group compared to this time last election. An equivalent surv
Hackney Post •

6 best LGBT hotspots in Hackney

Has there ever been a better time to be queer in Hackney? This might seem like an odd question to ask with two LGBT favourites in the area, The Joiners’ Arms on Hackney Road and The Nelson’s Head on Horatio Street, both closing their doors in the past few months. But in many ways Hackney’s queer scene has never been healthier. QX Magazine names Shoreditch as one of London’s “three gay villages“, while That Gay Backpacker calls Hackney his “very favourite London gaybourhood“. From Dalston to Hag
Hackney Post •

Crowdfunding gets Haggerston businesses rolling

London’s first ever board game café recently became the third crowdfunded business in the past year to make its home in Haggerston, Hackney. The café, Draughts, opened in a converted railway arch on Acton Mews last Saturday, 15 November. It raised a large portion of its funds from a campaign on popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter in August. Although founder Toby Hamand had already taken out loans to fund his dream venture, he said that the Kickstarter campaign – which raised almost £21,00
Hackney Post •

Matilda's memoir educates about cancer

A woman who underwent treatment for bowel cancer whilst pregnant has turned her experience into an opportunity to educate and enlighten others – with a graphic novel. Matilda Tristram, 32, who was a resident of Hackney Road, Haggerston at the time of her diagnosis, was faced with the heart-rending choice of having an abortion, delaying treatment, or risking the chemotherapy that could harm her baby in unknown ways. Choosing to undergo chemotherapy, she memorialised her experience in the form o
Essex Enquirer •

Dad donates books to schools

A FATHER has turned a personal project to create a picture book for his daughter into a nationwide campaign to promote and encourage children'€™s literacy. Dennis Thompson, who lives in Southend-on-Sea, is using the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to fund a print run of a thousand copies of his picture book, ‘The Tale of the Greedy Fish’, to be donated free to schools and libraries across the UK. The story, told entirely in rhyme, is a simple moral tale of a perpetually hungry fish na
Enquirer Series •

Housing market is staying strong through the summer

ESSEX estate agents claim that the local housing market is currently at a high, in spite of the traditional six-week quiet summer period. With housing prices climbing steadily and buyer confidence improving, the market shows every sign of moving out of the recession. However, opinion differs as to whether or not this trend will continue as the opposing forces of the Mortgage Market Review, a scheme which ushered in more in-depth background checks for mortgage applicants, and the Government-led
Thurrock Enquirer •

A dressing day to remember

A SMALL crowd gathered outside St Mary's Church in North Stifford on Saturday for the inauguration of the village's first ever well dressing. A well dressing is composed of natural materials set in clay to form a picture, after an ancient English tradition of giving thanks for clean water, and North Stifford's is quite likely the first to be seen in Essex. It was worked on by more than 50 people of all ages over a period of three days, following a beautiful design by artist Clive Attwood...