Baffling “snoopers’ charter” savaged by MPs (news.sky.com).
“Baffling” or just intentionally obfuscating?
“A parliamentary report on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill has led to another savaging for the so-called snoopers’ charter.”
Which of course tested and lost its luck when now-lost-at-sea Peg Legg Clegg of the Lib Dems withdrew his supports—perhaps suggesting erroneously he ever had any in it—during the Tory/Lib Dem coalition in 2013.
If you are not in the UK or prohibited prolapse porn has been keeping you too busy, the draft legislation proposed would require Internet service providers and mobile phone companies to maintain records of each user’s internet browsing activity (including social media), email correspondence, voice calls, internet gaming, and mobile phone messaging services and store the records for 12 months.
“The main objection is that the snoopers’ charter is a mess. Theresa May introduced the bill as a ‘comprehensive and comprehensible’ piece of legislation that would bring the rules governing the security services up to date.”
Seemingly what was delivered being similar to Chancellor George “Ceaser-style” Osborne’s economic predictions, being mainly wishful thinking and a hope you are looking the other way, and with his latest being an obfuscated tip we are about to sip a “dangerous cocktail of economic risks” likely to be his own Borne Legacy. It might be worth noting costs should it be introduced have been estimated at £1.8bn over the next ten years, which seems an awful lot to catch jihadis pulling one off on Facetime.
“The science and technology committee, which published its own report on the bill last week, was baffled by the proposal around ‘internet connection records’—the plan to store everyone’s internet history for one year. The problem with internet connection records is no one knew exactly what they meant.”
Which I’m at a loss to conclude if that gives me any confidence in that bunch of “experts” either. Presumably it was easier when per-minute dial-up records for your 56k modem were kept for billing.
“The same went for encryption: the bill can’t decide whether proper end-to-end encryption, to protect data, is a good or bad thing.”
Presumably scratching head as to exactly what that was too.
Time to put it in the bin, Theresa, and just look for jihadis pulling plonker on Chatroulette instead.
Updates/Follow Ups
1st May 2016
But “baffling” or not, that was never going to stop powers that be spying on jihadi plonker was it:
UK spying laws: Re-drafted Investigatory Powers Bill expands police power to look at people’s entire internet history (independent.co.uk).
“The new Investigatory Powers Bill will allow the police to look into all of everyone’s internet browsing history. Theresa May has presented the re-drafted bill as including new provisions for user privacy. But a key part of the bill expands the powers that police have to look at Internet Connection Records (ICRs)—a full list of every website that a person has connected to. The draft bill also vastly expands the police’s hacking powers, allowing every force to hack into a computer. It expands that same power to some public authorities, like tax officers and the Home Office itself.”
Oh, so tax man needs a look too, presumably because he’s just not seeing enough on Chatroulette. Department of Work and Pensions too? Iain Duncan Smith would likely love to see what some are looking to spend their benefits on at Amazon.
UK spying laws: Government introduces law requiring WhatsApp and iMessage to break their own security (independent.co.uk).
“The Government is pushing through a bill that will cripple WhatsApp and iMessage as they currently exist. The bill has been re-drafted after it was criticised by every parliamentary committee responsible for scrutinising it, but many of the most controversial powers remain. The new draft of the Investigatory Powers Bill includes a clause that forces technology companies to weaken their security when spies need it to. That includes the removal of end-to-end encryption, the technology that allows services like WhatsApp, iMessage and FaceTime to allow people to communicate securely.”
Will Apple’s CEO Tim Cook attempt to stand up rigid and firm against like he has against the FBI in the States (Latest Picks 18th Feb. 2016), or is the writing on the wall—presumably behind said plonker pulling jihadist? And who will be the first to admit they have won, ushering a police state as potentially repressive as anything going on under sharia theological despotism?
1st May 2016
UK security agencies unlawfully collected data for 17 years, court rules (theguardian.com).
“The investigatory powers tribunal, which is the only court that hears complaints against MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, said the security services operated an illegal regime to collect vast amounts of communications data, tracking individual phone and web use and other confidential personal information, without adequate safeguards or supervision for 17 years.”
Yes, yes and snoopers charter was baffling, confusing and analysed by some needing a …for Dummies copy, but, whatever Theresa—now PM—wants under the auspice of “national security”….
For sure, musical break time. Someday they won’t let you, now you must agree / The times they are a-telling, and the changing isn’t free You’ve read it in the tea leaves and the tracks are on TV / Beware, the savage jaw of 1984
Recent/related stories
- GCHQ finally admits it “persistently” hacked computers and phones in the UK and abroad (Latest Picks 3rd December 2015)
- Home secretary Theresa May forced to backtrack on internet “snooping” plans (Latest Picks 2nd November 2015)
- British spy agency GCHQ seemingly tuning in to the webcams of jihadists pulling one off (Pick of the Week 5th Mar. 2014)
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