Big Brother increasing control by 'spying' on citizens
Tuesday November 10 2009
Every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens in Britain is to be stored for a year and will be available for monitoring by government bodies.
All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer's personal communications, showing who they have contacted, when and where, as well as the websites they have visited.
Despite widespread opposition to the increasing amount of surveillance in Britain, 653 public bodies will be given access to the information, including police, local councils and the Financial Services Authority.
They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to obtain the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head of department at a local authority.
Privacy
Ministers had originally wanted to store the information on a single government-run database, but chose not to because of privacy concerns.
However, the British government announced yesterday that it was pressing ahead with privately held 'Big Brother' databases that opposition leaders said amounted to "state-spying" and a form of "covert surveillance" on the public.
It is doing so despite its own consultation showing that it has little public support.
The new law will increase the amount of personal data that can be obtained by officials through the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which is supposed to be used for fighting terrorism.
The new rules, known as the Intercept Modernisation Programme, will not only force communications companies to keep their records for longer, but to expand the type of data they keep to include details of every website their customers visit. While public authorities will not be able to view the contents of these emails or phone calls, they can see the internet addresses, dates, times and identify recipients of calls.
Ministers said that they still have to work with the communications industry to find the correct way of framing the proposal in law -- meaning it will not come before parliament until after the general election. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Richard Edwards in London
Irish Independent
