Sweeping UK spy bill dubbed 'snoopers' charter' becomes law

The law requires telecoms companies to keep records of all users' web activity for a year, creating databases of personal information that the firms worry could be vulnerable to leaks and hackers. Civil liberties groups say the law establishes mass surveillance of British citizens, following innocent internet users from the office to the living room and the bedroom. Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist credited with inventing World Wide Web, tweeted news of the law's passage with the words: "Dark, dark days."

In a move taken by few other nations, it requires telecommunications companies to store for a year the web histories known as internet connection records — a list of websites each person has visited and the apps and messaging services they used, though not the individual pages they looked at or the messages they sent.

Officials won't need a warrant to access the data, and the list of bodies that can see it includes not just the police and intelligence services, but government departments, revenue and customs officials and even the Food Standards Agency.

1984 truly has arrived and is here to stay. Big Brother is watching whether we like it or not.

The days of internet privacy are coming to an end. Snowden exposed the NSA for snooping on US citizens and now in the UK the government can track your every move without a warrant and your information will be available for access by numerous agencies. I

It's only a matter of time before this will become law in the U.S. as well.

We will all look fondly back on the good ole days when we all could go on the web annonymously. In the years to come i can see a "Minority Report" type of system in place as well, where by we will all be profiled and judged by the way we use the internet and the things we say and do online.

Tim Berners-Lee who is credited for inventing the World Wide Web has tweeted news of the law's passage, saying "Dark,dark days".

Dark days ahead....Indeed
apnews.com...

a reply to: EchoesInTime

My question about this is, would this have come about if Brexit had not been successful? Seems to me BB is successful with or without Brexit.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

This is scary mate, can't say i like where this is headed.

What's funny is we've had this in the us for a while via the nsa- they're just not announcing it.

Already posted by one of the lone gunman.

originally posted by: EchoesInTime
1984 truly has arrived and is here to stay. Big Brother is watching whether we like it or not.

The days of internet privacy are coming to an end. Snowden exposed the NSA for snooping on US citizens and now in the UK the government can track your every move without a warrant and your information will be available for access by numerous agencies.

The days of internet privacy never really existed, nor before them phone or mail privacy. As soon as each service was invented the governments of the day have monitored them illegally and generally covertly to some extent. Had the Allies not used covert devices to listen in on private conversations, the Axis powers most likely would have 'won' the war. If it's not one side it's the other.

The only difference is now it is legal and they can use it against 'us' in a court of law, and draw on our back catalogue of internet behaviours, to build a case of intent. The infrastructure has been in place for, and evolved over, the last century though.

What it should be said is that the spying already goes on and the recording but under EU rules it needed to be actually formalized and someone actually to check if the spooks etc were actually operating legally.

There is more 'in theory' visibility and oversight but we wait and see and watch the internet bills go up to pay for it.

The moment this gets used for delivering targeted advertisements, that is where the Act has been taken beyond its intended purpose and shall thus be repealed.