RE: UK Govt to make it legal to access internet & phone records
July 10, 2014 at 6:32 pm
(This post was last modified: July 10, 2014 at 6:35 pm by bennyboy.)
(July 10, 2014 at 9:51 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28237111
Quote: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
I have to say I'm not bothered by this: a phone record is a pretty minor detail, unless it is going to break your alibi on a big mob hit or something. EVEN IF they recorded my phone conversations and converted them to text-- if the government wants to hear about my wife's shopping list, or my opinions about the game of soccer-- they can go for it.
Liberty to act and speak is one thing. But should we have liberty to do everything under the cover of darkness and anonymity? Should be be allowed to walk around with ski masks because we don't want to be identified? I don't think so. Sometimes the defence of liberty is really an announcement of an intent to violate (or potentially violate) the social contract. I'm willing to give up some of my privacy if it allows the government a better means to flush out the pedos and the shoe bombers.