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Tech Companies Face Criminal Charges If They Notify Users of UK Government Spying (techspot.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the apparently-spying-is-the-only-thing-that-happens-over-the-holidays dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Last week, Yahoo became the latest company promising to alert users who it suspected were being targeted by state-sponsored attacks (excepting Microsoft, who made a similar announcement just today). Twitter, Facebook and Google had previously assured their users that they would be warned of any potential government spying. The UK, it seems, isn't happy about this. They are pushing through a bill that will punish the leaders of any company that warns its users about British snooping with up to two years in prison. Specifically, UK ministers want to make it a criminal offense for tech firms to warn users of requests for access to their communication data made by security organizations such as MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

10 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. End game? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's the end game with all this? At what point do people decide not to let this crap happen, and what steps do they take to enforce it? I honestly can't imagine a civil rebellion going anyway, even in a country like America where so many people are already armed with guns. Politicians obviously have no interest in backing down. It's like a new cold war.

    1. Re:End game? by Endymion · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What's the end game with all this?

      China is showing us one of the possible end games. Facebook is already patenting features along those lines. Combined with omnipresent spying, this "new" type of oppression will work. It's a terrifying future.

      It's like a new cold war.

      Dan Geer describes our situation as a cold civil war. It would be useful if more people recognized that.

      --
      Ce n'est pas une signature automatique.
    2. Re: End game? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There's more than one way to revolt. I agree that the "open warfare by flag waving troops" isn't going to happen. But what's far more likely is that, more and more, people simply... stop. They stop buying things other than necessities. They stop going out in the evenings. They no longer participate in society. No marriages. No offspring.

      It looks like just another economic downturn at first. But there never seems to be an upturn again. Slowly, slowly, things just get a bit worse, and a bit worse, and a bit worse. Because people stop participating.

      That's when governments will really go crazy. Because there's no leader of a resistance to arrest. None of those flag-waving troops to battle. There's nothing they can do. Can you make people go to the movies? Force bowling teams to form at the point of a bayonet? Demand people volunteer at the homeless food lines?

      Societies build social capital over decades and hundreds of years. They can use up all that capital just as slowly, as people simply no longer give a damn. That's when things end, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

    3. Re: End game? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The Arab Spring was a movement wanted and supported by Western powers and, especially in Lybia, it would have gone nowhere without direct Western intervention. For a more realistic outcome to any attempt at rebellion, see Tian an Men... While you still can.

    4. Re:End game? by flopsquad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your post is thought provoking, which makes it all the more frustrating you've succumbed to one of the least useful fads in modern internet culture: the everywhere video-ization of content that really just wants to be text.

      Not trying to be an ass :) I honestly wanted to follow those links and read what you were talking about and then... oh, YouTube.

      --
      Nothing posted to /. has ever been legal advice, including this.
    5. Re: End game? by fnj · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The end game is: governments get what they want, a vocal minority huffs and puffs and ultimately resigns to the inevitable, the rest of the population gets on with their lives. There is not going to be any revolution. Anywhere. Ever.

      Eat shit, fuck off, and die, o cowardly anonymous statist pig. There have always been revolutions and rebellions, and there will always be revolutions and rebellions. Counting on the masses to remain opiated indefinitely is a LOSER'S policy.

      The establishment has certain advantages in terms of having vast, well-supplied agents of oppression, but it also suffers the disadvantage of being highly identifiable (nowhere to hide), and possessing much infrastructure which has to be protected.

    6. Re: End game? by Terwin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They no longer participate in society. No marriages. No offspring.

      You think people are going to stop fucking because they are mad at politicians...? Or that people would cause their own economic downturn and willingly give up their jobs, and in turn food & shelter? Uhhh... No thanks.

      Ever heard a phrase to the effect 'This is not a world I would want to bring a child into'?

      Between abortions and contraceptives there is no need to stop having intercourse, just stop having babies. Without immigration, the population of 'first world' countries is already shrinking.

      Also, the worse the economic climate, the more people will save their money against future problems. Not everyone, but those with discretionary income will be more inclined to save it up or put it somewhere safe as opposed to making more purchases or making riskier investments.

      Have you heard the phrase 'jobless recovery' much in the last few years?

      I doubt it is any sort of intentional protest, but if people do not have confidence in their leaders, they will tend to hold back.
      (if you are stuck with the choice between Trump and Hillary, and the one you want least wins, will you celebrate by going out and buying a car?)

  2. Re:Piss off! by cdrnet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How is this any different to National Security Letters which the US uses broadly to the same effect? The UK just want the same...

  3. China would be so proud! by Bamfarooni · · Score: 4, Insightful

    China would be so proud!

  4. Worrying logical consequences by John+Allsup · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Thus, thinking from a logical perspective, it makes sense to assume, by default, that we are being spied upon, that GCHQ, MI5, Mi6, NSA, CIA etc are snooping on all our internet transmissions, that all ISPs and tech companies are in cahoots with the intelligence services, and that the reason there's 'no evidence' is because of explicit legislation banning the dissemination of such evidence. Suddenly paranoia, delusions and conspiracy theories start to become sensible, rational and logical.

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    John_Chalisque