UK Govt to make it legal to access internet & phone records

[Fidel_Castronaut]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28237111

The legislation is primarily aimed at the companies that provide us with telephone and internet connections. It outlines their legal obligation to retain "communications data" on their customers. This metadata includes things like logs of when calls were made, what numbers were dialled, and other information that can be used, the government says, in investigations. It does not include the content of the communications.

Done in the name of security, naturally.

And I, for one, am ashamed by this. Whilst it's currently illegal in most cases for the government to gain access to the content of calls/emails/texts (although this isn't always the case), it's pretty clear that in the coming years this will be made legal through additions to this law.

The fact that this has cross party support sickens me. And the US thought they had it bad! I believe the following is a misquote but regardless, it sums this up nicely:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Benjamin Franklin