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The UK Will Police the Dark Web With a New Task Force (vice.com)

An anonymous reader writes with news that the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and its top police counterpart, the National Crime Agency have formed a new unit to take on online crime. Motherboard reports: "'An NCA and GCHQ co-located Joint Operations Cell (JOC) opens officially today,' an NCA press release published Friday reads. 'The unit brings together officers from the two agencies to focus initially on tackling online child sexual exploitation.' This unit has been in the works for some time. Back at the end of 2014, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced the plan for its formation at We Protect Children Online Global Summit. At the time, he said that 'The so-called "dark-net" is increasingly used by paedophiles to view sickening images. I want them to hear loud and clear: we are shining a light on the web's darkest corners; if you are thinking of offending, there will be nowhere for you to hide.' At the summit, it was said that GCHQ's technical skills would be its contribution to the unit. But the JOC won't just focus on child pornography cases. GCHQ Director Robert Hannigan said in the recent release that, on top of child exploitation, 'The Joint Operations Cell will increase our ability to identify and stop serious criminals."

33 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. How... progressive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They've been watching too much CSI.

    Pure coincidence that they'll mostly end up 'catching' dissidents and whistleblowers

    1. Re:How... progressive. by Njorthbiatr · · Score: 1

      They're going to wish they brought a bigger flashlight.

    2. Re: How... progressive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They will buy one. With your tax money. And you better shut up about it or you will attract attention.

    3. Re:How... progressive. by ZeRu · · Score: 1

      Pure coincidence that they'll mostly end up 'catching' dissidents and whistleblowers

      And chances are they might "find" a huge collection of child porn on their computers by a greater "coincidence" still.

      And, most disturbingly, an average Joe voter will be satisfied because The Gov't found a perfect scapegoat.

      --
      If you post as an AC, don't expect me to spend a mod point on you.
    4. Re: How... progressive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      They're going to wish they brought a bigger fleshlight. ......

    5. Re: How... progressive. by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 2
    6. Re:How... progressive. by Maritz · · Score: 2

      Don't knock them, they've got the know how. They're going to build a GUI in Visual Basic and trace your IP address.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    7. Re:How... progressive. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They love all this CSI Cyber shit because paedophiles are the biggest boogeymen after terrorists. Maybe even before terrorists. It also makes for great headlines about how 5 million illegal images were found on some idiots computer, which seems like it was a massive bust but actually just one guy downloading dodgy torrents in isolation from his flat in Newcastle.

      Easy glory for the police, which diverts attention away from their numerous fuck-ups and persecution of people they don't like, and helps them justify even greater powers in the future.

      Also, as you say, they get some cool new hardware that can be turned on anyone that bothers them when necessary.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:How... progressive. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      "They love all this CSI Cyber shit because paedophiles are the biggest boogeymen after terrorists."

      Police could kill off most of the pedophile problem by going after cultural environments that promote such practices, but that would be politically incorrect. So they want the legal system warped so they can spy on every individual's computer, in hopes of catching individual offenders. So long, Magna Carta.

    9. Re:How... progressive. by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Well you are talking about the UK, the same country that let 1000 girls be groomed and raped over several because of the fear of being labeled "racist."

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    10. Re:How... progressive. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Yes, I forgot to put the cite in my post:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  2. Fucking liars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why weren't they thinking of the children when Thatcher’s government covered up a VIP pedophile ring

    1. Re:Fucking liars by Bahamut_Omega · · Score: 2

      I'll just watch the GCHQ wind up finding itself under the boot heel of Anonymous over time.

      I wonder how long it will be until the "Darknet" operations will have turned Mr. Cameron into the same kind of petrified cowards that got turfed in both Canada and Australia. Perhaps it's time for Fawkes to rise again and perhaps start exposing a number of Cameron's corporate friends for their high treason. Otherwise, I'm sure many members in law enforcement would find themselves outed quite nicely.

    2. Re:Fucking liars by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Why weren't they thinking of the children when Thatcher's government covered up a VIP pedophile ring

      They *were* thinking of the children, like ALL the time. That was kinda the problem.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:Fucking liars by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      The threadbare excuse that this is to "protect the kiddies" fools no-one, I'm sure.

      And you would be wrong. Take another look at the election results. You only have to fool enough people to stay in power.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    4. Re: Fucking liars by KGIII · · Score: 1

      The government doesn't have a monopoly on violence. They do have a legal monopoly on violence but only within the construct of the governance. Remember, and this is important so do not forget this, you are governed by consent. This is not an advocacy of violence. This is not a suggestion that you overthrow your government. This is just a reminder that you allow yourself to have a master. This needn't be the case (it's probably for the best, however).

      Woe be unto those who forget that they are ruled by consent, for that it what the rulers wish for most. You should not be afraid of your government, your government should be afraid of you. They should be your servants, not your masters. That you allow them to do so is a choice you have made, collectively. It needn't be so.

      Pithy but true.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    5. Re:Fucking liars by coastwalker · · Score: 1

      It was recently revealed that all phone calls have been monitored in the UK for over a decade. It is equally probable that most internet traffic has been recorded by the security services. The joint task force described is obviously a liaison service allowing the police access to this data. This service will be expanded to give police direct access after the current internet security bill is passed.

      The people do not care about this because the press has told them that the data will only be used to catch pedophiles. What they forget is that the police only exist to criminalize people and they will find it easy to criminalize most of the population given access to their internet records. The same will apply when all cars are connected to the internet, everybody will be fined for speeding as it is almost impossible to avoid doing so - check your GPS, it will often show that you missed a speed limit change by a few seconds.

      Welcome to the panopticon.

      --
      Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
  3. UK by Sibko · · Score: 4, Informative

    Funny how the UK police have enough time and resources to create entire new departments for the express purpose of policing the internet - ostensibly to protect the children - and yet they've got such a backlog on actual child abuse investigations that they can't get around to them for years.

    1. Re:UK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If they really cared about the children they would shut down the catholic church

    2. Re:UK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Pedophile politicians want to shift the focus away from themselves!

    3. Re:UK by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Funny how corrupt, greedy politicians keep winning elections despite all the complaints.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    4. Re:UK by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      So your argument about not persecuting advocates going after someone who hasn't broken the law but has an opinion you merely disagree with.

      Genius double-standards there.

    5. Re:UK by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Simple: They do not care about children at all, and if they would do something effective about child abuse, their nice justification for establishing a fascist regime would go away.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    6. Re:UK by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      If they really cared about the kiddies, activists like Peter Tatchell who call for the age of consent to be lowered to 14 would already be in prison.

      14 is already the de facto age of consent in the UK. Police, social services and the rest don't really care if a 15 year old has sex, provided it's not rape. And some European countries (like Germany) have a legal age of consent of 14 already.

      There is no connection between discussing a different age of consent and being a paedophile. After all, the age of consent is irrelevant to someone who wants to rape a baby.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  4. Rotherham by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Will the gallant UK police "look the other way" if they come across another Pakistani rape gang, who maybe has raped some 14,000 girls in a single town, in order to not "stoke racism"? (Like they did in Rotherham).

    1. Re: Rotherham by cyber-vandal · · Score: 2

      They're all in prison now. Unlike Jimmy Savile who got away with it for 50 fucking years.

  5. Back to the 2000's by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    So the UK is going for the National Criminal Intelligence Service, Government Technical Assistance Centre, NTAC to try and use the GCHQ in public again.
    Court workers, legal teams will see the documents just as they did in the past. The media will be informed of the methods and it will be journalists publishing pre trial stories all over again thanks to corrupt police.
    Will a CIB3 (anti-corruption squad) like effort have to try and track leaks again as was done around early 2000?
    Run integrity tests on everyone again? Who accepts a random offer for information in 2015?
    Domestic surveillance is the domain of humans who know what they are doing without courts, media and corruption buying and selling their best results.
    Bringing huge amounts of electronic GCHQ material into any open or secure court setting did not work. Too many people got to read of methods and sell information to anyone with the means to pay.
    Technically Tempora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... will get to every network in the UK per day.
    Parallel construction, an offer to become an informant always worked wonders and left no trace to technical methods.
    Announcing what the GCHQ will be doing to the public seems like past efforts.
    Everyone with an interest will just buy the product as it flows down to police and courts in real time.
    Anyone of interest will just stay away from any communications network.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  6. Damage Control by MagickalMyst · · Score: 1

    I think this may have to do more with damage control than anything else.

    These sickening images are evidence of the most heinous of crimes; which many of the so-called elite are involved in.

    I think that they are likely 'patrolling' the darknet to hide/destroy evidence of their pedo rings and arrest a few sickos in the process to make it look like they are making a difference.

    They have been getting away with these activities for a very, very long time.

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
  7. LOL by Ahnahmoley · · Score: 1

    Good luck! I'm behind seven proxies!

  8. Re:All talk, We're smarter by KGIII · · Score: 1

    Worst tic-tac-toe game ever!

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  9. Re-Rant by JimSadler · · Score: 1

    I have posted for years that no government wants to allow private communications of any kind. These days they are more brazen about that type of thing. Any claim of a security issue seems to justify endless spying by governments.

  10. Lots more to go down in Rotherham by Bruce66423 · · Score: 1

    There are a vast number of victims - of the order of hundreds or the low thousands. The cases dealt with so far have dealt far less than 100 perps http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-e...

    1. Re: Lots more to go down in Rotherham by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      How many did Jimmy Savile rape over those 50 years? Why did all the people that knew about his behaviour do nothing? Was it because he was a Muslim?