The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK House of Commons has published the Government response to the first report from its inquiry, Connected tech: smart or sinister?

The report, published in August 2023, called on the Government to make tackling ‘tech abuse’ a priority, amid a warning that the use of smart technology and connected devices in facilitating domestic abuse is becoming a growing problem.

Among its responses to the Committee’s recommendations, the Government says that it accepts the need to make tackling tech abuse a priority and agrees that the police and criminal justice service needs to develop more skills in the area. The recommendation that the Office for Product Safety and Standards should convene a tech abuse working group with stakeholders is however rejected.

The Government is still to respond to the Committee’s second report on connected tech