UK Government Wants To Be Bigger Than Big Brother

Wow Terrorists could be using Social Media sites like Twitter to plot the next attack. Well I have news for you they are also using the rest of the Internet as well, along with probably encryption software. They probably use VOIP, instant messaging, mobile phones, land lines, cars, planes, boats and bikes. I heard they even buy food and eat it as well.

But does this warrant an ever increasing invasion of our privacy by the British Government? There are plans as reported in the BBC news story (if they have their facts right, which they may not always have, as they proved at the weekend, but that is another story) for the British Government to store even more data about us in a big central database. This time to monitor web sites visited and all phone calls made.

But let's face it the British Government hasn't exactly proved it is trustworthy with our private data and keeping control of who has access to it, or how these laws to fight terrorists are kept in check.

In the last year I have lost count the number of times that Government departments or their contractors have lost vital personal details of thousands of people. Data that if fallen into the wrong hands could allow these people to be victims of identity theft. I don't remember it being reported that those responsible for the loss of the data being sacked (which would of happened in the real world). There just seems to be no accountability within the Government or their departments.

There have also been cases when local councils have used laws designed to fight terrorists to spy on members of the public. Some of the cases reported were to catch benefit fraud, others litter droppers, dog fouling or anti social behaviour. Not exactly what the law was intended for I think. So why hasn't the Government cracked down on this? Why hasn't the law been changed to protect the people from this intrusion?

So with a proven track record of being incapable of  looking after important data, and not able to protect the public from inappropriate application of the terrorist laws. Can we really trust them to look after any new database, and control how that information is used, or who has access to it?

I also fear that these measures will also create a two tier Internet. The hacker/IT aware user and the Joe public. Yes I know you can argue that it already has that. But it will be even more obvious. The hacker/IT aware would use anonymous proxy servers etc to hide where they have been on the Internet etc. While the Joe public will have all their Internet usage monitored, recorded and used against them.

But also what is stopping the terrorists from using the same technology as the hacker/IT aware to hide their tracks? Nothing. So once more the database becomes useless for it's alleged intended use, and more a database that can be used against the very people it is meant to be protecting.

With that scary thought I'll leave you until next time...

UPDATE: Just came across this other BBC story "You can run... but can you hide?" that delves into how easy it is to access all this data the UK Government has on us. If you missed the Panorama program last night like me, you have seven days to catch it on the BBC iplayer.