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UK Reconsiders Expansion of Surveillance Powers

Posted by michael on from the magna-what? dept.

davecl writes "BBC News Online is reporting that the plans to allow a vast range of bodies to access email and phone records have now been shelved. They seem to have been surprised by the depth and breadth of opposition. The measures may surface again after November in the new session of parliament, but they'll be taking it much more seriously then. Looks like we may have scored a notable success here, but continued vigilance will be needed."

3 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Influence by kylant · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like this line best:

    "Mr Blunkett's son Hugh, who works in computers, is understood to have briefed his father on privacy fears associated with the original proposals. "

    Noteworthy that a geek should teach a politician about privacy - an integral part of modern democracy.

  2. A second thought by idfrsr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Online surveillance is quite a hot topic and requires dilligence on all parties to maintain our privacy. My only concern is that we must not as a online community support or at least condone certain behaviour by not speaking against it. What I am talking about is especially exploitive content and primarily kiddie pr0n. We only help these peddlers of deviancy if we don't actively speak out against it and support efforts to curb child exploitation. I am in favour of privacy rights, but we should not shield the wrong people. I want privacy for those who respect the rights of others.

    --
    "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" -Tom Waits
  3. Re:finally by Space+cowboy · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I have to say I find your comments extremely offensive.

    "Why is it that there are 200 British soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan"


    Look here for a more informed view, 1700 soldiers by April, and more since, including HMS Ocean (helicopter carrier), HMS Illustrious (aircraft carrier), and HMS Fearless (assault ship) as well as an auxiliary fleet presence (engineers, supply, etc,). Get your facts right.

    "when you actually do something about the IRA ..."


    Perhaps you have ideas about what to do, given your knowledge of the religious and territorial claims which stretch back over MORE TIME THAN YOUR COUNTRY HAS EXISTED in it's current form.

    Perhaps also, if you stopped funding them (50% of IRA funds are USA-sourced) it would help stop innocent children from being bombed and murdered on their way to school in Northern Ireland.

    "how 'bout we start seeing some of that lend-lease paid back"

    We are self-sufficent. We could park a nuclear sub off any major city in the world and reduce it to a smoking ruin in seconds. No "missile shield" could help. A pre-emptive military strike against us would (and could) not prevent this.

    At the end of the day, Mao was right in one respect: power comes from the end of a gun, and the UK is one of the most militarily powerful nations in the world.

    Aside: Britain is one of the best submariner nations in the world. I've worked on some of the technical systems in modern submarines, and it's quite funny how different classifications affect what is shown... When everyone watching is classified for "UK EYES ONLY", the displays get significantly more detailed and informative. With a lot more relevant info to work with, the same
    algorithms in the software can produce a lot more useful output :-)

    Simon
    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!