UK government says byebye to privacy

Wed 11 November 2009 09:19, Editors

The British government intends to take steps which will make privacy virtually impossible for UK residents. The Telegraph says all internet service providers and telecommunication companies will be legally required to store records of all personal communications for one year.

This measurement goes against the rules the European Union is trying to get through which make sure data will not be stored for a period longer than necessary. The UK measurement could be seen as an opportunity for companies like Google to store their data as long as they want.

The UK government is not just storing the data. It will make the data available to no less then 653 public bodies. That means the police, fire brigades, the ambulance services, financial authorities (taxes!), prisons and local councils and other related authorities will have access to the data. Even without the permission of a judge.

The measurement comes from a plan called the “Intercept Modernisation Programme,” which was set up to create a government in-house database. It was set up to fight terrorism. That didn't come trough because of privacy issues. An issue which no doubt will be on the agenda when this measurement is discussed.

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Comments (1)

- James
- [website]
That is absolute madness. Anyone with a little computer knowledge doing anything dodgy on-line could just connect to a VPN service such as xerobank or ipredator and bypass this problem while innocent people have their data shared with just about anyone!

Wo 11 nov 2009, 10:01

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