Is the UK Taking Snooping to the Next Level?
July 1, 2012
The Inquirer’s Dave Neal recently reported on the UK Government’s plans to violate the privacy of its citizens when using the Internet in the article “UK Government Details Its Internet Snooping Plans.”
According to the article, the UK Government is drafting a Communications Data Bill that will give them the authority to snoop on citizens Internet communications. The reasoning behind the sudden need to snoop is due to the fact that so many Internet users are criminals. Therefore, in order to stop the crimes committed by these seedy folks is to store social networking and email records.
Home Secretary Theresa May claims that it checking communications records rather than communications content is what saves lives on a daily basis.
Neal writes:
“Communications data covered in the bill includes the time and duration of a communication, the number or email address of the originator and recipient and ‘sometimes’ the location of the device from which the communication was made. The Home Office says that the powers are ‘vital’, adding that they will ‘catch criminals, save lives and protect children’, and says this with a straight face.”
On the other side of things, a recent survey of IT managers and executives found that nearly half of respondents would steal proprietary data if they were fired tomorrow. 71 percent of respondents believe the insider threat is the priority security concern and poses the most significant business risk.
If this is the case, maybe the UK government isn’t completely out of line for wanting to keep a closer watch on its citizens.
Jasmine Ashton, July 1, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Comments
One Response to “Is the UK Taking Snooping to the Next Level?”
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
[…] Is the UK Taking Snooping to the Next Level? (arnoldit.com) […]