government to bring in new law allowing them to monitor every citizen's email, text and computer useage

[JustHecate]

here

PLEASE tell me this is an april fool's gag, yes?

Doubt it. Although the 'every citizen' description needs qualifying and fast. Technically they can already listen in to 'everyone's' phone-calls but can only do so in practice with very specific permission.

bloody hell. So basically, they can - in theory - listen to all our phone calls and messages, read our texts and emails and monitor our computer useage.

I seriously hope there are some bloody good safeguards and a lot of procedures to follow for authorisation!

I refuse to rise to the bait until tomorrow as I'm sure it's an april fool's joke... One of those 'just believable enough to be true and cause outrage' ones. Oh for the days of the spaghetti tree!

Blimey, they would die of boredom monitoring mine.

Example from this morning's text

Me to DS- 'Can you tell Dad to get some cakes for Gran and Grandpa?

DS to Me- 'K'

ZZZZZZZ

I don't think this is an April Fool. There has been discussion of this around for a few years. The original plan was to store every single text and email on a huge database but then they realised it would require so much capacity that it would be technically imposisble. Now they just want the absolute right - without recourse to a judge to monitor any communications they wish.

This is already happening in the US with the recent laws passed or about to be passed there.

I am quite sure the Tory amd LibDems would have opposed thid in opposition but every Govt that comes in suddenly finds it useful to overturn long held civil liberties. Problem is it will get abused. Once powers are handed to police and security services the citizen has little recourse to stop those authorities using those powers however they wish.

The DNA database was originally brought in to solve and prevent crime - now many ordinary law abiding citizens are on it and young people in particular are just arrested at any kind of street disturbance and put on the database. It is impossible to get off it once you are on it.

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Sorry, I don't buy that arguement at all.

They'd be bored stiff reading my texts and emails.

And once the government compiles a neat little profile of someone - websites visited, friends contacted etc - they'll sell this valuable data to the highest bidder!

Genius.

Just like the ydid with DVLA data.

Govt creates a monopoly on data and then sells it - to criminals in this case.

Arseholes, I will make sure that my internet exchanges are even more socialist and anti the old boy establishment then normal.

Altho it has been the case for years hasn't it that they have machines picking up and recording for checking later, any internet correspondence that contains key words such as........GUNS TO BE SHIPPED AT 2PM, MEET ME AT 4 TO DISCUSS THE BOMB PARTS, WE WILL BUY THEM WITH THE MONEY WE GET FROM SELLING THE DRUGS AT 12.

[GRIN]

should have turned the caps lock off hee hee

They/re talking about it on Radio 4 now.

Pffff. I have been involved in the design and implementation for a datawarehouse for a European mobile phone company to store this type of information - at the time this was the largest of its kind in Europe.

1. It took approximately 7 years to build
2. The customer base was less than 2 million
3. Even then we are talking billions of records monthly just for text + phone calls

4) because of the sheer size the db had to be severely truncated 5) I'll believe it when I see it.

As another poster said, this is simply license to snoop on people they want to snoop on, there just is not the capacity to record each and every thing.

GCHQ are already monitoring so I'm not quite sure what this pomp is all about.

MoreBeta, your comment re the DNA database is chilling - once you're on it, you can't get off it. I know we all have to be law abiding - but it's the potential for error which is frightening. Kafkaesque.

Oh I hope it's a gag. Not sure I'd want anyone to see the texts I've sent my fwb lately LOL

Alpine - yes what you said is what I read. Far to much data to record every communication. Its the 'right' to snoop on who they like without recourse to the courts or any controlling authority or check and balance that bothers me.

Who decides who gets monitored? It doesn't take long before anyone who is a political oponent of the current Govt becomes a potential target.

ratherordinary - my MIL is on the databse. Totally law abiding but she was a helpful witness to a serious crime. They took her DNA to routinely exclude her from their investigations. She willingly agreed - now she is on the DNA database and too old to argue and does not really know her rights. As a result, DW is also effectively tagged as are our children.

if you really want to access someone's email, you probably can. i would believe GCHQ are already doing this where thy want to, amazed if they didn't..

the article didn't mention a comprehensive database, unless i am missing something?

teaandcake The mobile phone companies store texts as a matter of course...

Oh my How did I NOT know this?

Sorry to be fick, MoreBeta, but how does that work with DNA and your descendants? Rather shocked about your MIL - so she could come off the database if she made a fuss and went through a rigmarole? When she agreed to be a witness, could she have asked for her DNA not to go on the database?

ratherordinary - half of my DW's DNA is from her mother and hence any DNA sample from DW or our children (who have 25% of MILs DNA) will be picked up as having a partial match to MILs DNA in the database.

I heard some years ago that once the police have 20% of the population in the database they pretty much have a link to everyone.

Yes she can ask for it to be removed from the database but it is at the discretion of the police as to whether they agree to do it. In this case I think they would agree but she has never asked and as FIL is very ill and she is old the likelihood of her bothering to ask to get it off the database is low.

There have been allegations in the recent past that the police make arrests with the objective of gathering DNA samples.

Oh, even more Kafkaesque. Thanks, MoreBeta. I wasn't suggesting for a moment that your MIL should take time out to make a fuss; just interested to know that it would be possible.

TBH, and to my surprise, I find I don't actually care. It was something the Labour Govt was looking at (and the Tories then were vehemently against) and you have to assume there's a damn good reason why they feel the need to be able to monitor specific email/text exchanges. And it would be specific exchanges - they don't care about my or your fascinating email conversations.

I suspect we have a very good security service and that this is part of it.