Posted by
cal, 8 years ago:
Post Office To Steam Open Your History File [from
stand.org.uk]
One of the more extreme powers the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) handed out two years ago let government agencies obtain "traffic data" without a judicial warrant.
Traffic data is best described as the writing on the envelope of a message, instead of its contents. It can be the list of phone numbers you have called in the last six months. Or a full list of Websites you have visited. Or the times you log on, and from where. Or who you e-mail, or what programs you've downloaded, or what newsgroups you read. Or the position of your cellphone last Tuesday at five.
Because the risk of abuse of this power (there's no judicial oversight - all that's needed is the permission of a suitably high-powered boss), those who could wield it were strictly limited. Only the police, Customs and Excise and the secret services were allowed access to traffic data in the original act.
Not any more.
On Friday, the Home Office petitioned parliament to add a vast array of organisations to that list. If their passes, everyone from the DTI, any local authority, the Food Standards Agency, the Home Office themselves (of course), and staggeringly enough,
Consignia. The final entry in the list says that "A Universal Service Provider within the meaning of the Postal Services Act 2000" has the same power as the secret services to read your traffic data. There's only one USP in Britain right now, and that's the provider previously known as the Royal Mail.
If the idea that the fricking
Post Office has access to your web logs (access which would cost a competitive company millions, and would probably get them investigated by the Data Protection people), let alone every minor apparatchik on the block, you might want to kick up a fuss about this. It's due to appear before MPs on June 18th, and the Lords a little after.
Posted by
cal, 8 years ago:
How do I find out more?
Read the
Order before Parliament. It's very short (although the list of allowed organisations is very long - two minutes should do it).
Flick through our
quick notes on the original RIPA law. (The notes are based on an earlier draft, so the section numbers are a bit off. But you get the idea.)
Posted by
cal, 8 years ago:
What can I do?
Fax your MP now. The Order is to be debated next Tuesday, and these things are usually rubber-stamped. Tell your MP which groups you don't want to be spied on by (list them all), and tell him why. Explain what traffic data means (your MP might not now how wide-ranging it is). Explain it in terms he or she can understand - if they're a Conservative, explain how it's government prying into people's lives. If they're Labour, talk about civil rights. If they're Liberal, say what you like - the LibDems are usually down with this sort of nonsense. Ask for a reply.
It'll take twenty minutes of your time. It'll make a difference. Members of Parliament hate having this sort of wide-ranging power sneaked past them as much as you do. If you're feeling a bit lazy today, you could forward this message to one of your more overactive friends. And then write your letter tomorrow.
Posted by
cal, 8 years ago:
Experts
If you're a journalist, or want to write a detailed piece for others, you can contact
Ian Brown (+44 7970 164526) at
The Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR). As ever, they were the ones to spot this piece of nastiness first. And if you're feeling flush, for £25 you can join the
Friends of FIPR which will get you advance alerts and a warm feeling about these issues.
heh, sent my fax the other day, and even got a letter in reply. I am not sure I believe that the letter was actually written by the MP, but apparently he is getting in touch with the Home Secretary, and will contact me again when he receives a response. Which probably means nothing will come of it.
I may fax him again on Monday ...
This doesn't sound good for you guys...
Posted by
Gary, 8 years ago:
Big deal! If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear. Simple. People who start big campaigns about little things like this need shooting.
Posted by
ell, 8 years ago:
Gary: Go read George Orwells' "1984", then tell us we have nothing to fear. :P
Big Brother is watching.
Posted by
Gary, 8 years ago:
Not read the book but I'm sure a work of fiction like that is hardly worth getting over-exited about. Big Brother is watching? Of course they are! They HAVE to. In this post-September 11th time, every avenue of attack needs to be considered and monitored INCLUDING those that people are getting over excited about - if we want to live in a safer country without fear of being attacked on the scale of what happened on September 11th we MUST be prepared to allow the Government to intercept all forms of communication and associated evidence - and then act on it if they see criminal activity. Like I say, if you've done nothing wrong then you have nothing to fear.
Posted by
Leo, 8 years ago:
I sent an email to my MP, but I dont object to the home office being able to check emails, but i think the post office and even NHS is a bit much. As they say, if you've got nothing to hide from The Food Standards Agency or similar, then you have nothing to fear.
I disagree with the argument that just because you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. What you define as nothing wrong, may not necessarily line up with what these various agency consider to be wrong. For example, going to websites that strongly criticise aspects of their behaviour, or maybe your mobile phone logs reveal your proximity to some kind of meeting that they don't like? And how is this monitoring going to be regulated to prevent abuse. There are no resources, and no plans for resources, to ensure that only legitimate information trawls are carried out. This kind of information trawling should at the very least only be in the hands of the judiciary, and even then needs far tighter regulation than there is currently ...
just my tuppence worth ...