Government

Is Britain‘s Electronic Surveillance Bill ’Incredibly Intrusive‘ or ’Sensible and Limited’?

LONDON (The Blaze/AP) — British authorities are moving forward with an ambitious plan to log details about every email, phone call or text message in the U.K. – and in a sharply-worded editorial the nation’s top law enforcement official accused those worried about the surveillance program of being either criminals or conspiracy theorists.

It unveiled details of this plan Thursday.

(Related: ‘Snooper’s charter’: Proposed U.K. surveillance program will know who, what, where, when and could infer why)

Officials insist they’re not after content. They promise not to read the body of emails or eavesdrop on phone calls without a warrant. But the surveillance proposed in the government’s 118-page draft bill would provide British authorities a remarkably rich picture of their citizens’ day-to-day lives.

Britain Releases Details of Its Mass Surveillance Plan

Home Office Secretary Theresa May (Photo: Wikimedia)

Home Office Secretary Theresa May said in an editorial published ahead of the bill’s unveiling that only evil-doers should be frightened.

“Our proposals are sensible and limited,” she wrote in The Sun, a mass-market daily. “They will give the police and some other agencies access to data about online communications to tackle crime, exactly as they do now with mobile phone calls and texts. Unless you are a criminal, then you’ve nothing to worry about from this new law.”

Yet plenty of people were worried, including a senior lawmaker from May’s ruling Conservative Party.

“This is a huge amount of information, very intrusive to collect on people,” David Davis, one of the proposal’s most outspoken critics, told BBC radio. “It’s not content, but it’s incredibly intrusive.”

Authorities and civil libertarians have been debating the plan for weeks, but Thursday marked the first time that the government itemized exactly what kinds of communication it wanted to track, and how it planned to.

The bill would force communications providers – companies such as the BT Group PLC or Virgin Media Inc. – to gather a wealth of information on their customers.

Providers would log where emails, tweets, Skype calls and other messages were sent from, who they were sent to, and how large they were. Details of file transfers, phone calls, text messages and instant conversations, such as those carried over BlackBerry Messenger, would also be recorded.

The bill also demands that providers collect IP addresses, details of customers’ electronic hardware, and subscriber information including names, addresses, and payment information.

Even physical communications would be monitored: Address details written on envelopes would be copied; parcel tracking information would be logged as well.

All the data would be kept for up to a year or longer if it was the subject of legal proceedings.

The measure remains a draft bill, which means it’s subject to change before it is present to Parliament.

Watch this report from the Telegraph where May says “this is not about Big Brother at all,“ noting that ”police already have access to communications” they may need should they want it:

In a nod to controversy surrounding the bill, the government has taken the unusual step of submitting it to two parallel legislative bodies: A joint legislative committee composed of members of Britain‘s House of Lords and the House of Commons as well as Parliament’s intelligence committee.

In a statement to fellow lawmakers, May struck a measured tone, saying she recognized “that these proposals raise important issues around personal privacy” but that the law would be balanced.

She was less measured in The Sun, where she dismissed worries that the bill would stomp on free expression as “ridiculous claims” dreamed up by “conspiracy theorists.”

“Without changing the law the only freedom we would protect is that of criminals, terrorists and pedophiles,” she said.

Comments (19)

  • blazetoo
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:22pm

    1984 was set in England. Big brother was everywhere. If you covered up a known big brother eyehole, they went to your house and put in another one in secret. Then they watched even closely. Big Brother is watching you

    Report Post »  
  • antioscar
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 5:43pm

    Add your comments

    Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 1:56pm

    This is what happens after you let politician disarm you. What a bunch of fools.

    Report Post »  
  • RedDawn2012
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 12:47pm

    Hitler would have LOVED the Britain of today. His Nazis could have only dreamed of such control. “1984”-style fascism has come full force to the Merry Olde Isle and shall surely kill it as dead as a Christmas goose.

    Report Post » RedDawn2012  
  • affinity
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 9:35am

    They took the British peoples guns, they watch every move Briton’s make, and now they plan to take away their rights to privacy. Hmm this sounds like they might be planning something that the people living in Britain won’t like.

    Who are they? “The New World Order.”

    Europe is: “Coming to America.”
    Be prepared.

    Report Post »  
    • mikem1969
      Posted on June 15, 2012 at 9:46am

      You said it all. That‘s why I don’t say anyting oline that I don’t want other people to know about.

      Report Post »  
    • jackact
      Posted on June 15, 2012 at 1:00pm

      The Brits voted their liberties away, just like the American electorate has been doing since Woodrow Wilson.
      Don’t make the Brits out to be victims of some conspiracy.
      It is all a result of their own design.

      Report Post »  
  • dezldummi
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 8:22am

    Sounds pretty typical for the British government, and pretty typical for the British people to just turn the other way and accept it

    Report Post » dezldummi  
  • jackact
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:57am

    What difference does it make?
    The entire socialist system in England has ruined the economy and broken the spirit of a once brave and industrious people.
    Smothered in chronic unemployment and choking to death on political correctness and Sharia Law the Brits are done.
    Hope we are not next.

    Report Post »  
  • lqtm
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:54am

    LOL all you repubs were so in support of the patriot act, and now it’s coming back to bite you in the butts on a worldwide scale I have to LOL. I don’t want to say any more though, the government has probably already traced my IP and is sending a big white painter’s van full of bristling personnel to my house. Oh wait I’m in Kosovo ATM. They’ll be there when I get back.

    Report Post »  
    • jackact
      Posted on June 15, 2012 at 9:44am

      First of all we are not republicans, we are conservatives.
      You might want to note the difference since constitutional conservatism will become the prevailing politic in America for the next few generations.
      You can thank his highness Obama for that.
      We do everyday.
      We’ll send a big RED van of union thugs, wacko environmentalists and whinning loser panty waist liberals to your house as a token of our sympathy in advance of the Nov. ass kicking your ideology will receive.

      Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:32am

    .
    One good screen shot of Home Office Secretary Theresa May “Naked” should put and end to the program…….

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:23am

    Incredibly intrusive, and by the time Big Sister here in the states is done, it will pale in comparison to what Obama will command.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • lukerw
      Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:44am

      At one Time… the Punishment for Walk upon the King’s Grass… was Death!

      Report Post » lukerw  
  • MRMANN
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:21am

    The USA’ll likely be next, no matter which political party is in power. This is deeply disturbing as well as depressing. Sorry to be so negative.

    Report Post »  
    • lqtm
      Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:56am

      I agree, we are on a road to pervasive “security measures”. Unfortunately since defense is so politicized reversing this will likely be very hard and any attempts to do so will be lauded by Republicans as an endangerment of the country. I swear you people are morons sometimes.

      Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:20am

    Britain is a Kingdom… with Royalty & Nobles… and has been throughout history: THEY ARE USE TO IT!

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • antioscar
      Posted on June 15, 2012 at 5:42pm

      You are right. Britain does not have citizens, they have subjects. People who refuse to be a subject leave.

      Report Post »  

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love