A new bill was recently passed, The Investigatory Powers Bill, which poses a great threat to civil liberties and privacy of the people in the U.K. The new bill was recently pushed through by parliament and it offers the state new powers in being able to snoop through what you do online; not that they don't already have that capability. However this new bill seemingly broadens the scope of who is able to access that information.
State officials now from a variety of different agencies will have the authority to sift through the internet browsing records of millions.
Telecom companies will be required to keep at least a year's worth of browsing data on their clients and that data can be sifted through by various agents. There are a great number of agencies that can now ask for that data: the Metropolitan Police Service, Royal Military Police, Ministry of Justice, Gambling Commission, Food Standards Agency, and many others.
It's also been claimed that warrants must still be issued in order for any hacking of a target to take place.
Many civil liberties experts are saying that this new bill includes some of the most drastic and draconian surveillance measures that the country has seen. This bill vastly extends already existing powers that the state holds, especially when it comes to what they can force internet service providers to fork-over to them. Many who are alarmed over the bill have been asking questions about possible tools to help them re-gain some sense of privacy online, some have been looking into VPN options and more, but it's safe to assume that most people aren't going to take any precautions like that.
Critics of the new IP Bill, which is also being called the Snooper's Charter, have argued that the new bill defies common sense and they have lashed out; calling it unnecessary and overreaching.
Interestingly, an IPT (Investigatory Powers Tribunal) just a few weeks ago had ruled that the UK government was guilty of illegal bulk data collection of its citizens for many years (more than a decade!). So its no wonder why many are sensitive to the idea of granting even more power to an agency which has already demonstrated has little regard for following the law; by the looks of that recently analysis by the tribunal.
It's a shame that we haven't learned yet that this sort of expansive legislation does not and has not helped to stop any terrorists; a claim which has been made numerous times by experts and retired professionals who worked within the security, legal, and policing field themselves.
There has been a steady encroachment on privacy over many years not only in the U.K. but around the world. There have been many similarly Orwellian laws, which have also been passed that further enable an aggressive overreach from the state. And because of this erosion to our natural rights, it can be said that children today will grow up with a very different understanding of 'privacy' in their lifetime. For children today, it will be increasingly difficult for them to be able to find a way to live in this world and truly have a private, unrecorded moment to themselves.
Privacy matters, even to those who claim that they don't value it. Because even with those individuals who push for privacy violations, you will see that in their own lives that they take natural steps to protect what they value and want to keep private. It doesn't help to ensure the safety of any individual, when they have to sacrifice their liberty first in order to obtain that 'security'.
Pics:
pixabay
fast company
Sources:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/investigatory-powers-bill-act-snoopers-charter-browsing-history-what-does-it-mean-a7436251.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-investigatory-powers-bill-snoopers-charter-is-here-now-what-do-we-do_uk_58384ed5e4b0207d19180126
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/ip-bill-law-details-passed
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2474353/ipt-rules-that-uk-government-unlawfully-collected-bulk-data-for-a-decade