Lords Sneak UK Internet Snooping Law into Bill, Minus Safeguards – ISPreview

internet-surveillance

Opponents of the Government’s plan to revive the twice failed Internet Snooping law, which would force ISPs into logging a much bigger slice of everybody’s online activity and also make it more accessible to security services, are crying foul after dirty politics resulted in 18 pages of new law being snuck into the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill (CTSB) at the last minute.. and without the promised judicial oversight (safeguard), according to Mark Jackson of technical website ISPreview (thanks to Helen Price for the heads-up).

The significant amendment was tabled in the House of Lords by former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Blair, with support from Lord Carlisle, Lord King and Lord West. Suffice to say that the text appears to be almost [the] image… of 2012’s rejected Communications Data Bill, which itself was a revival of Labour’s equally controversial Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) several years earlier.

At present the existing law already requires broadband ISPs and telecoms firms, after receipt of a warrant, to maintain a very basic access log of the targeted customers online activity (times, dates and IP addresses) for a period of up to 12 months, which does NOT include the content of your communication and only occurs after a specific request is made to the ISP.

By comparison the new law wishes this to apply to everybody and to expand its remit into other fields, such as the monitoring of access/chats logs for popular online games and social networks, as well as Skype calls.

All of this has happened despite the coalition Government’s original pledge to “end the storage of internet and email records without good reason“, although clearly the interpretation of “good reason” differs for politicians as the new law would apply to everybody, irrespective of whether or not you’ve ever committed a crime (i.e. guilty, until proven innocent).

Needless to say that opponents of the old bill(s) and the ISP industry have reacted with disgust.

As a person who takes part in online activity, you’ll want to read the rest of this article, on ISPreview.

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7 Comments

  1. Jeffery Davies January 24, 2015 at 8:19 am - Reply

    Did you think otherwise this lot have shown how corrupt they are and that mps dont read all thats going through parliament ruled by rogues and corrupt people wbose only goal is to take away has much monies and our voice away by any devious means

  2. Andy January 24, 2015 at 11:30 am - Reply

    Eventually any private person who takes their online privacy seriously and uses either proxy’s, VPN’s or encryption will immediately be classed as a criminal. If we don’t act now there will be no liberty on the internet. Our right to privacy is being seriously eroded in the name of two phoney wars on copyright infringement and terror.

  3. hugosmum70 January 24, 2015 at 1:05 pm - Reply

    do they actually READ all these bills properly anyway? it takes time and alertness (i was falling asleep by the time i got near the end) to read these bills and the lords and MPs have them coming out of their ears with this lot.. never before have i ever heard of so many bills going through let alone being passed by, parliament in one electoral session(not sure what to call the 5 years this lots been in power.)OK they’ve had an extra year to do it in too compared with other governments.but its still a lot.

    • Mike Sivier January 24, 2015 at 1:17 pm - Reply

      In fact, only 11 government bills are passing through Parliament this year, one of the lowest amounts in history.

      • hugosmum70 January 25, 2015 at 12:20 pm - Reply

        that is probably because there’s not much else left for them to change Mike…but i was on about the whole 5 years mike not just one year.

  4. timeless January 25, 2015 at 3:29 am - Reply

    Glad to see someones picked up Marks story, l happen help out at the site where this is posted so lve really noticed that this article just doesnt seem to have gone far, that is to say the few shared links l posted on FB and Twitter have annoyingly been deleted a few times (or should l say disappeared).

    • hugosmum70 January 25, 2015 at 12:22 pm - Reply

      could this be the reason people are re-blogging only? not many comments being made on a good few of these blogs.. but each one seems to be getting re blogged ,admitted not many tines though. 3-4 at a time at most.

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