Plan Being Drawn Up to allow Security Services to Retrieve Personal Data from Sites like Facebook

The government is drawing up plans to give the police and security and intelligence agencies new powers to access personal data held by internet services, including social network sites such as Facebook and Bebo and gaming networks.
The move, heralded in this morning's speech on international terrorism by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, is prompted by concern that criminals and terrorists are using websites as a way of concealing their communications, according to Whitehall security sources.
At present, security and intelligence agencies can demand to see telephone and email traffic from traditional communications services providers (CSPs), which store the personal data for business purposes such as billing.
The rapid expansion of new CSPs - such as gaming, social networking, auction and video sites - and technologies such as wireless internet and broadband present a serious problem for the police, MI5, customs and other government agencies, the security sources say.
Sites such as Bebo and Facebook provide their services free, relying mainly on advertising for income. They do not hold records of their customers, many of whom in any case use pseudonyms.
"Criminals could use a chat facility - they are not actually playing the game but we can't actually get hold of the data," said one official.
"Criminal terrorists are exploiting free social networking sites," said another Whitehall security official, who added that the problem was compounded by the increasing use of data rather than voice in communications.
"People have many accounts and sign up as Mickey Mouse and no one knows who they are," he said. "We have to do something. We need to collect data CSPs do not hold."

Original Article

Just another lame reason to throw people's right to privacy out the window ... i guess you could consider this proof that the government is really using it or at least is trying to, in order to get people's information ....

haha got to love the ending statement

Clearly concerned about a public backlash against the plan, officials stress that the government is not building up a single central database containing personal information of everyone in the country.

[edit on 15-10-2008 by baseball101]

I sure am glad that Homeland Security is here to protect us. Once the terrorists start taking over the chat rooms, who knows what will happen next?

I get the feeling that sites like facebook were set up with this intention all along. People are crazy to put anything incriminating on there.

reply to post by Karlhungis


ha ya i completely agree with you ... and ya it seems as if sites like facebook etc. all have some underlying influence .... i think it's funny how they're even stretching it out to gaming networks ... i'm no avid gamer but i'm pretty sure people go on their to game and maybe talk to some people about things, but not to plan terrorist attacks ... i mean i have heard of the whole world of warcraft terrorism plots, but come on seriously?

I just killed my account a few days ago . . .

There's waaaaaaay too much information shared on that site. People I've not heard from in 30 years were sending me messages.

I don't think they realize that when people don't talk for thirty years . . . THERE'S PROBABLY A FREAKIN' REASON



Seriously, though . . . just google a name of somebody you know and it comes up as found on facebook.

That can't be good.

so whats the internet equivalent of 19 extremists stealing 4 planes crashing into 3 buildings(6 of them still bieng alive and well in thier own country astral projection 4tw)

or should i say a bunch of guys with rucksacks on trains and buses

its the internet patriot act uk style woohoo -_-

....



[edit on 15/10/08 by noobfun]

Hopefully this new "plan" will finally put a stop to the evil doers like "Leroy Jenkins" That type of terrorism must come to an end!

Well, thanks to the "dooce" scares, I think anyone who is somewhat intelligent and gainfully employed has either omitted or removed potentially incriminating material.
Still, it provides for all kinds of investigation leads that would have, otherwise, taken much longer.
This could potentially lead to "virtual provocateuring" abuses by the agencies, so watch out who you befriends on these networks.

I am all for giving our champions everything we can to fight crime and injustice in the world and all that...to a clearly defined extent, but frankly, I have lost faith in either individuals being able to do the job right or our institutions and their ability to adhere to and uphold the law; one or the other...or both.

Someone is deffinitely cheating weather it be the police officers themselves or those who are giving them orders.

reply to post by Karlhungis


LMAO, I remember that raid. Oh that was classic even as sad as it was to disgrace another's virtual funeral.
Can you imagine if they were LARPing? Oh to be a fly on a nearby tree.

edit: oh wait, that's a different one. My bad, but still funny.

[edit on 15-10-2008 by 4N6310]

And i dont see why not. I mean if folks are stupid er i mean "creative" enought o put all their information out there online on places like myspace and facebook etc, then you know full well what the ramifications may be. There is a reason why my stuff isnt out there and i dont want to be public but for all those that are-have fun!

will ninja looting ?
pk'ing?
ganking?
and kill stealing all become terrorists acts?

would playing terrorist in counterstrike qualify me for git-mo? i need a holiday and the free designer orange jump suits are spiffing

IMO they have been doing this for a while. Did you ever notice that on sites like myspace how the ads always pertain to what you put in the info area of your profile. My boyfriend used an Edgar Alan Poe quote for his headline one time. Then he noticed that there were asds on myspace, yahoo, gmail, and google about Poe. They take your info, categorize you into a certain group, then shoot ads at you all day that pertain to the info you put in your profile. Its very scary to me. So, I guess what I am trying to say is it would not surprise me if they let the feds and police do the same given they already let the advertisement companies do it . Nice post OP

reply to post by KaginD


but theres a differance between targeted marketing that you just signed upto

and the goverment monitoring everything you type to any online source

first of all what u guys should know is that if they government wanted to find you, and know all about you.. they would.. if you think the use of facebook, and things like that, help at all.. your thinking to simple. if you were important enough for a government intelligence agent to search your name, they would already have a way of doing so... other than facebook. beleeb dat!

but god forbid they should start profiling people a look at what the type/think in thier own social time under any given alias they decide to use would be a hell of a way to do it

unless MI5 are currently mind reading everyone to find the same stuff out