Thursday, February 7, 2013

Beware: UK government plans to track web use


It has been learnt that the UK spy agencies want to install 'black box' surveillance devices across the country's communications networks to monitor internet use.

A report by an influential committee of MPs tells how spooks are keen to implement a nationwide surveillance regime aimed at logging nearly everything Britons do and say online.

The spy network will rely on a technology known as Deep Packet Inspection to log data from communications ranging from online services like Facebook and Twitter, Skype calls with family members and visits to pornographic websites.



So far, the surveillance would be what they call 'outside the envelope  information - meaning by Who sends a message, where and how it is sent, and who receives it. That means the government will have access to e-mails of senders and recipients - but the agencies would still need to obtain a court order for access to the contents of the emails.

A similar situation would apply in the case of mobile phone calls, with the callers' identities and locations available to agencies, along with the time of the call and its duration, but agents restricted from listening without authorization from the courts.

But civil liberties and privacy campaigners have reacted with outrage, saying that the technology will give the government a greater surveillance capability than has ever been seen.

Read more about it at: Mail Online

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