Internet monitoring starts today in the UK

Net firms start storing user data Details of user e-mails and net phone calls will be stored by internet service providers (ISPs) from Monday under an EU directive. (link via BBC News) Henry Porter has written a scathing piece in the Guardian about this sinister plan: Using Europe to erode our privacy An EU directive compelling ISPs to retain information on individuals has been brought in without a debate in parliament (excerpt): Today, an EU directive comes into force which will compel all internet service providers to retain information from all emails and website visits. Data from phone calls and text messages will also be stored and made available to the government, its agencies and local authorities. Having seen how local officials have abused anti-terrorist laws, it's not hard to imagine the damage to privacy that will ensure. These powers were brought in by a statutory instrument and so were not debated by either house. The accepted view is that the Home Office now bypasses parliament by lobbying Europe directly in the knowledge that the measures they desire will go undebated and unscrutinised, then be smuggled into British law as a European directive. It is difficult to think of anything that makes the House of Commons look more feckless or more redundant. I hate all this surveillance in the name of security. What are your thoughts? Do you feel safer knowing that all emails and data from phone calls and text messages will be stored and made available to the government, its agencies and local authorities? Or do you think (as I do) this is a step too far and that this invasion of our privacy is a dangerous assault on our personal freedom? And the way this EU directive was brought into power without being debated in parliament, does rather make a mockery of the House of Commons, doesn't it? Related post from my blog: Gov't plans 'Big Brother' database for phones & e-mails in UK

Britain's Database State: Quarter of databases are 'illegal' and should be scrapped

One in four government databases illegal One in four Government databases are illegal under human rights or data protection and should be scrapped immediately, a panel of experts have warned. Another six in ten have "significant problems and may be unlawful" while just one in eight are given a clean bill of health. The UK has become the "most invasive surveillance state, and the worst at protecting privacy, of any Western democracy", the most detailed study yet on data collection reveals. Systems including the DNA database, National Identity Register, the children's ContactPoint index and the NHS Detailed Care Record are "fundamentally flawed", they conclude. The scathing report says a quarter of public sector databases are either disproportionate, run without consent, have no legal basis or have major privacy or operational problems. (link via telegraph.co.uk) It is a report that should make a difference but sadly I don't think the government will take any notice especially after reading the response from a Ministry of Justice spokesman in an article from BBC News, Call to scrap 'illegal databases': But the government says the report contains "no substantive evidence" on which to base its conclusions. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the government was "never losing sight" of its obligations under the data protection and human rights acts. "It takes its responsibilities seriously and will consider any concerns carefully, adapting existing safeguards where necessary," he added.

Surveillance in China: "China's All-Seeing Eye" - a must-read article!

I have just read a very frightening Rolling Stone article, China's All-Seeing Eye: With the help of U.S. defense contractors, China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state. It is ready for export. With the proliferation of databases and surveillance in Britain, the article serves as a timely reminder of what our future society could be like if people don't wake up and start protesting before it's too late. (link via Schneier on Security) Please read the article and pass it on to others in the blogosphere. It should be required reading for everyone!

Gov't plans ‘Big Brother’ database for phones & e-mails in UK

A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. (link via timesonline.co.uk) Well, that's another attack on our right to privacy. And yet again they are using the excuse that a government database is necessary for the fight against crime and terrorism. That's right another database - we already have the Identity Card Scheme/National Identity Register ,the UK national DNA Database (which is being added to everyday), the (deliberately) vague named ContactPoint (the national children's database) and the NHS Care Records Service (the electronic records system that aims to put all patients records online in one database) and now they have plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK. Each one of these databases is scary enough but add them all together and it doesn't take much to see how sinister it all really is. And I haven't even mentioned that we have more CCTV cameras in the UK than any other country in the world. Big Brother indeed! Be afraid, be very afraid.