Plans to store information about every phone call, email and internet visit in the United Kingdom have in effect been abandoned by the Government.
The Home Office confirmed the “Big Brother” scheme had been delayed until after the election amid protests that it would be intrusive and open to abuse. Although ministers publicly insisted yesterday that they remained committed to the scheme, they have decided not to include the contentious measure in next week’s Queen’s Speech, the Government’s final legislative programme before the election.
The effect of this move could be to kill off the plans for years. The Conservatives have not ruled out reviving the idea but remain sceptical about the practicality of Labour’s proposals.
A Whitehall source told The Independent last night that the project, estimated to cost up to £2bn over 10 years, was “in the very long grass”. Civil rights campaigners welcomed the move but warned that ministers were already responsible for introducing a range of databases and surveillance measures that breached basic liberties.
The data retention proposals have been championed by the intelligence agencies and police as a vital tool for tracking terror plots and international crime syndicates. Under the plans, communications companies would keep a record of phone numbers rung, addresses to which emails are sent, details of internet sites visited and the use of social networking sites such as Facebook – and would be required to surrender details to police when asked. They would not hold records of phone conversations or the contents of emails.
Full article at Independent
Phewwwww For that!
i just noticed.. the image is from one of Banksy’s work.
how the hell does banksy do that and not get caught mid picture??? genius
Thank the lord
i was kind of worried lol. Not because i have anything to hide of course 
Ohh, the irony of Herr Gordon Brown in Berlin, his speech about the collapse of a hard line socialist state with a broken economy; one that controlled, kept records on and spied upon its citizens, rough handling of ‘troublemaking’ protesters, his talk about the abuse of power and the idea of liberty…
Herzlich Wilkommen in der GBR meine Genossen!
GBR=Gordon Braun’s Republik
Es ist Zeit fur ihre untergang
We may aswell just be a robot with emotions.
Well, like the original big brother concept it is flawed by the fact you cannot watch all the people all of the time (or waste it paying attention to every false flagged comment about something illegal).
Add to that the fact that (in Birmingham at least) a lot of the camera’s are moved from cctv post to cctv post in order to target specific crime areas, the figures for actual “camera’s” are probably exaggerated by counting the cctv posts supposed to have them in them. Works as a reasonable deterrent; but it’s a bugger if you happen to be the person told your attackers can’t be identified BECAUSE of this lame trick by the cops.
Anyhow, I’m cynical enough to believe they ARE recording everything they can anyway…they’ve just got no way of actioning the data yet.
I *am* a robot with emotions.
Then there will be a sensor in your toilet to see if your s@#t smells of roses, what drugs you have consumed etc. then they will be hacking into your webcams
I’m still miffed that the Post Office painted over that. It was one of my favourites.
The technology is mainly to blame, people in power are just seduced by it and cant resist the temptation to know what we are doing. To collect this information is wrong and pointless, terrorists and criminals soon learn that electronic communication is not secure and so they use word of mouth and even letters sent in the normal post.
A letter is not easy to intercept, there is no database to interogate which shows the sender and the recipitant and unless it is steamed open the contents can’t be read. Electronic communication should have the same protection of privacy as a posted letter.
It is also the governments and the police’s misplaced idea that they are somehow in charge of us and therefore have a right to watch us rather than they work for us and they do not have the right.
Oh, this is just what they want you to think… they are watching you all, all of the time… little voyeuristic demi-gods… or something?!?
What the Hell are they expecting to find?! You have to laugh. Bye bye ‘free’ country. That’s why the government is killing itself to get EVERYONE digital and online. Spy spy spy. Get a life! And let us have ours.
Unfortunately I don’t think that Banksy is there anymore, unless he went and re-painted it. It gave me a little thrill to come across it one day as it was my first Banksy I’d seen in the flesh. Course, it was quite sad to go back 6 months later and find it gone. I love his stuff.
- Sadly no it is gone (it’s not far from us) – but also that is the joy of a Banksy. Limited edition views. – Phillis
that’s ok then – I can get on with my plotting now – cue manic laughter