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Bye To Privacy: Big Brother Becomes Reality
Other | Monday 18th June 2012 | Osh
Thought someone watching your every move was only a feature of life for a big brother contestant or characters in a thriller? A new government bill may turn this TV idea into reality, for your online movement at least. The new draft data communication bill causing controversy is being described as a big brother style invasion of privacy!
This new law, if passed, will mean internet service providers will have to store details of everyone’s internet use for one year, for the government gain access to these. Use of social networking sites, email, voice calls over the internet and online gaming are all information the government will be able to see about you! They will be able to view the exact time and place of messages and the identity of the people talking. Although the new bill stresses that it will not allow access to the content of messages, the details available are still intrusive.
The plans intend to use new technology to catch out terrorists and criminals. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (soca) claims communications data is used in 95% of the serious crime investigations it conducts so the bill is needed. Is the internet just a virtual high street in need of some CCTV policing? Or is tracking the facebook activities of the everyday citizen, ineffective in the war on crime? Many are of the opinion that this criminalises innocent people and creates a nation of suspects. Privacy is one of our basic rights and if this bill passes, how long is it until our personal conversations will be monitored?
More criticism of the bill is that it is waste of millions of pounds as criminals will evade it. They claim the government are forgetting the skill and determination of criminals and how simple it is to be anonymous online.
The draft bill is still to be scrutinised by a select committee.
Awaiting the results, I am going to facebook, tweet and skype to my heart’s content, safe in the knowledge that no one is watching me... for now.
Becca Johnson
