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Britain Has Passed the 'Most Extreme Surveillance Law Ever Passed in a Democracy' (zdnet.com)
Zack Whittaker, reporting for ZDNet: The UK has just passed a massive expansion in surveillance powers, which critics have called "terrifying" and "dangerous." The new law, dubbed the "snoopers' charter," was introduced by then-home secretary Theresa May in 2012, and took two attempts to get passed into law following breakdowns in the previous coalition government. Four years and a general election later -- May is now prime minister -- the bill was finalized and passed on Wednesday by both parliamentary houses. Civil liberties groups have long criticized the bill, with some arguing that the law will let the UK government "document everything we do online." It's no wonder, because it basically does. The law will force internet providers to record every internet customer's top-level web history in real-time for up to a year, which can be accessed by numerous government departments; force companies to decrypt data on demand -- though the government has never been that clear on exactly how it forces foreign firms to do that that; and even disclose any new security features in products before they launch. Not only that, the law also gives the intelligence agencies the power to hack into computers and devices of citizens (known as equipment interference), although some protected professions -- such as journalists and medical staff -- are layered with marginally better protections. In other words, it's the "most extreme surveillance law ever passed in a democracy," according to Jim Killock, director of the Open Rights Group.
There was a survey about this particular one a little while ago. 97% of people were against it, if they knew about it or after they had the contents explained to them, but only around 10% even knew it was being proposed. I hope that the opposition parties make a lot of noise about it at the next election.
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The news suppression must be in force.
No mention of it on the BBC website, but that's frequently the case if the government want something suppressed, the BBC is not the impartial news service that some people outside the UK think it is.
What's more annoying is that it has no mention of this on the bills before parliament site which shows the last action as Lords bouncing back to Commons.
But even if it's not actually law yet, it's going to be soon. There are just formalities left.
You know, the way the world is going at the moment, makes me think that Latin/South America, in spite of all its woes, is the only sane region on Earth. We are actually moving toward more open societies, with more democracy. In fact, a civil war has just ended in one the nations down here. Where else you are seeing things like these?
Back in the day, not even in my wildest dreams I would embrace the notion that Latin America would be the last bastion of freedom. Strange century, strange world.
Think again. Right now, Brazil, the largest country in Latin America is being literally plundered by local criminals sponsored by the US and they are competing against each other to see who destroys the country first and delivers anything of value to US corporations. Democracy in Brazil was always a fantasy, now this fantasy has been torn and we are moving towards yet another dictatorship. Better you seek democracy elsewhere.
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
Get a program that will load a thousand random websites every hour. When millions of subscribers will each load 24000 websites every day, the storage will quickly overflow, and if the ISPs feel the pain, they are better placed than John Q. Public to effect pressure on the government.
Not really. Reality is much worse.
Have you actually read 1984? If you think present reality is worse than that, then I have a bridge to sell you.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
America is, for the most part, a very safe place to live. If you can avoid visiting a few specific zip codes, your chances of dying violently are very, very low. My understanding is that England is pretty much the same, except that they use post codes instead of zip codes.
In those parts of those countries, there is pretty much no need or desire to spy on or restrict anyone. The few exceptions seem mostly to be people that don't want their government to push diversity on them by force.
Without diversity, you get security for free. With diversity, the best you can do is to sell your Liberty for a veneer of security.
See that "Preview" button?
So.....in order to keep others from making your country into a totalitarian state ruled by fear, you make your country a totalitarian state ruled by fear.
If you can't beat them, join them! Thanks May and team.
I wrote a paper on this bill. Note that it contains limited exceptions for journalists, medical records, etc... but full exceptions for politicians. Well Done, UK!
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.