Slashdot Mirror

Blame Blair and Bush. The Neo-cons lobbied strongly for EU data retention even tho the US would never have it:

http://www.policylaundering.org/issues/comm/

In Britain, your ISP could be forced to have mass surveillance equipment fitted that sends any and all data to the Govt. Your ISP would be prosecuted for telling anyone.
They can also jail you for not telling them your encryption passphrases (or if you can't remember them).

http://www.magnacartaplus.org/bills/rip/index.htm

Just one of the many terrifying laws NuLabour have passed:

http://www.waronfreedom.net/

Knowing that no-one in their right mind is going to want one an ID card, never mind pay for it, the Govt are secretly forcing passport applicants and renewers on to the ID surveillance train from the 26th March.

What will happen is that you will need to submit your bank details, your National Insurance number and your Driving License Number. These will be recorded on to the National Identity Register without you knowing.

Your NIR record will then cross-link into your tax records, benefits records, bank records and DVLA (car tracking records) thus creating one massive virtual database. This alone makes it the most intrusive database of all time, anywhere in the world.

It gives any future government a picture of who you are and what you're doing throughout the day.

Most of you will have no idea about other totalitarian laws passed by this Govt.
http://www.waronfreedom.net/

The next few govts could be much worse. If you have less than 8 years on your passport, I strongly recommend you renew early, asap.

http://www.renewforfreedom.org/

I hope this helps someone.

The Slashdot headline is completely incorrect. Only about 2600 phones were tapped.

Requests for data such as who phoned/emailed who and when number 439,000 ish.

The distinction is due to the way RIPA is written. Only Secretaries of State can authorise intercepts whereas police commissioners can request the other data.

Yes, RIPA is a totalitarian law, produced by a Government that has written several totalitarians laws:
http://www.waronfreedom.net/

I personally am making backup plans to leave the country.

PR will give the LibDems and maybe even the Greens a chance. But power still corrupts.
The UK and US political systems are broken in different ways. The US at least has a codified constitution, separation of powers and ways to hold public officials accountable.

There are more important changes. Here's an old blog post I did on democratising Britain:
http://www.waronfreedom.net/fixing-our-democracy

You're absolutely right although, because Britain has escaped totalitarianism, the public think it will never happen.

Consequently, Blair's Government has passed more totalitarian laws than Hitler ever did and hardly anyone has noticed.

http://www.waronfreedom.net/

The media rarely cover it for the same reasons and because the issues don't fit nicely into 300 words. The Tories haven't mentioned it for reasons only known to themselves. And the LibDems never get any media coverage.

There's one going through Parliament now that can punish anyone who (on balance of evidence) might be reasonably expected to inadvertently aid a criminal. That's right, no intent required, no crime has to be committed, just the hypothetical aiding of a hypothetical crime can get you interred.

http://www.magnacartaplus.org/news/index.php/?p=10 0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3672591.stm

From the same Govt who argued that most people weren't necessarily entitled to passports and that we should just trust they won't use their totalitarian laws for totalitarian means.

http://www.waronfreedom.net/