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Current Filter: Security>>>>>Comment> KGB, Stasi... and now the UK government? Editorial Type: Comment Date: 11-2014 Views: 1265  |  | ||
| A research report published by F-Secure shows the growing concern of the British public with mass surveillance being undertaken by the British government on its own people, as well as foreign nationals The 'Nothing to hide, nothing to fear?' report coincided with pre-screenings of the already acclaimed Laura Poitras' CITIZENFOUR film, which documents the moments when Edward Snowden handed over classified documents, detailing the mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA). Research commissioned for the report shows that 86% of people do not agree with mass surveillance. Snowden's leaks last year highlighted the extent to which Western intelligence agencies are snooping on the general populace, including their emails, phone calls, web searches, social media interactions and geo-location. Add to this the UK's 5.9 million CCTV cameras (one for every 11 people, as opposed to one informant per 65 people in the Stasi-controlled East German state) and the extent to which Britain has fallen into being a surveillance state becomes shockingly clear. Despite protestations from the government that indiscriminate surveillance will "protect our national security", the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) contravenes Article 12 of the Human Rights Act: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence." "We are in unchartered territory and we appear to have sleepwalked here," says Allen Scott, managing director of F-Secure UK & Ireland. "Little by little, our rights to privacy have been eroded and many people don't even realise the extent to which they are being monitored. This isn't targeted surveillance of suspected criminals and terrorists - this is monitoring the lives of the population as a whole." With the future use of this data uncertain, people are showing their anxieties. The research showed that 78% of respondents are concerned with the consequences of having their data tracked. This will only increase as the government's Digital-by-Default scheme pervades government departments and offers up more personal data for GCHQ to use.
Brian Wall | |||
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