BBC.com broke down the details of the new surveillance bill to be passed in the U.K. No surprise there are opinions from all sides with some saying the bill goes too far and are too intrusive, this type of surveillance is not legal in and other European country or the U.S.
Those in favor say these measures are needed to keep the country safe.
The article goes on to show what is allowed now:
What can the agencies do at the moment?
They can listen to phone calls, intercept emails and even hack devices – if they can show they have a justifiable case for doing so. Broadly, that means to uncover and stop crimes or threats to national security.
But the law is also so complicated that very few people outside of the intelligence agencies properly understand it – and it is full of legally grey areas because it was written before the explosion of our modern digital lives.
Now what is to be proposed under the new law would include things like see what time you accessed Snapchat or logged onto Twitter, they would not be able to see the exact content.
Internet or mobile companies will be required to hold people’s online activity for one year, this would include what services they connect to, when they do it, how they do it and from where.
If agencies want to look at what you are specifically doing or saying, they will need a warrant signed by the home secretary.
Read the full article on BBC
There’s no going back. Citizens should expect to be under surveillance by their governments throughout their lives.
Whether or not a human being looks at the data, the data will be collected and stored. Corporations and governments will trade it amongst themselves in exchange for power, money, and special consideration. Algorithms will analyze our habits and compose profile summaries about us. Those with access to this information can scrutinize us, legitimately or not.
Even if you were to avoid the internet, cell phones can be remotely activated to record you. The IOT can be hacked, converting your refrigerator and light switches into spies that inform on whether or not you’re home. Super markets and traffic lights have cameras. Footage now goes up into the cloud, where facial recognition software can (theoretically) track a person’s movements.
Sounds very paranoid. But the only thing to do about it is shrug it off. Horrible but irreversible – like a cancer diagnosis.
If they want to watch the same Whitesnake, OZZY, and JudasPriest videos I listen to all day be my guest.
One more threat to our democracy …
Nice analysis Joseph, those are facts, not paranoid at all, agree with what you say, but I think there is going back, we have to fight for our rights …
Remember that “People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people” …