The British government plans to form a database of every call, text message or email sent in the UK but are these new proposals really as controversial as they seem?
The phrase ‘Big Brother is watching you’ could soon take on a whole new meaning for each and every Briton, not just those who choose to take part in the controversial reality series.
If proposed Home Office plans get the go ahead soon our every phone call, text message and email will be monitored, recorded and made available to law enforcement agencies. Our internet usage will also be subject to the same scrutiny.
This week the government’s plan to extend the powers of the Communications Data Bill in autumn have once again hit the headlines as Information Commissioner Richard Thomson warns they may be “a step too far for the British way of life”.
According to statements released thus far, the plan is to form a central database that will hold records detailing the telecommunications behaviour of every single Brit. This is, according to the Home Office, necessary to cope with “The changes to the way we communicate, due particularly to the internet revolution” and “essential for counter-terrorism and investigation of crime purpose”
At first glance these plans are nothing less than shocking. The very thought that basic details of our day to day lives will be recorded in such an Orwellian way is enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most law abiding citizen. However, shocking as they may first seem these proposals are far less drastic than the papers have made out.
For starters this exact information is already held and recorded by individual telecommunications companies after a European directive made it necessary last October. So, while colating this data together is going to be a new step, the fact that our calls and emails are going to be monitored isn’t.
At the moment the police have to obtain a warrant before they can request individual records from the ISPs and call providers that hold the data. However, this is a lengthily practice that’s doing more harm than good by hampering the polices’ attempts to crack down on crime, so say the government; arguing that this database is necessary if they’re to keep up with the growing threat to public safety.
Furthermore, it’s basic information such as the numbers we call and the IP addresses we make contact with online rather than the actual content of our communications that’s recorded. So, while the ‘powers that be’ can find out who we speak to and when, they won’t actually be able to access specific details of our conversations or internet wanderings.
All this considered, the plans don’t appear to pose such an enormous threat to our civil liberty, well not much more than the legislation already in place.
However, despite this there are still huge concerns that the government is going to have to overcome before a scheme of this nature is ever going to win public support.
Obviously in question is their ability to keep confidential data under wraps. After several massive security breeches in the past year alone they are going to have to work hard to restore confidence that they should be entrusted with data that has such a huge potential to be abused.
Then, there’s the question of how the data will be actually used. Evidently it’s going to be used to ‘fight crime’ and protect public safety but how far will this actually go?
Local authorities have already received criticism this year for using cctv surveillance to catch ‘litterbugs’ and crack down on parents exploiting the school catchment area system. Potentially, under the powers of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act they’d be able to extend this scrutiny even further using information complied in the proposed communications database.
The government will also need to justify exactly how these proposals will improve public safety before they take up valuable resources on such a controversial scheme. After all, previous ‘data mining’ exercises of this nature put into practice by the US government have been pegged as a relatively inefficient way of pinpointing terrorist cells. How the information collected in this database is going to be of additional benefit if they’re not actually assessing the content of communications still remains uncertain.
Finally, you have to wonder whether this is the start of something bigger. America’s National Security Bureau have reportedly set up an analysis centre that is to collect far more detailed data than the UK’s equivalent, with bank transactions and online travel purchases all said to be monitored. Is this telecommunications database the British government’s first step to forming a more comprehensive record of our every move?
However, whether you see this database as an abuse of our freedom or necessary to protect us from the so called growing threat of terrorism, one thing is for sure. This is a bill the government isn’t going to be able to slip through unnoticed.
