Britain Unchallenged As The Most Surveilled State In The World - TruePublica
Britain Unchallenged As The Most Surveilled State In The World
By Graham Vanbergen
– The latest
iteration of the so-called “Snoopers Charter” is quite simply an
expansion of the surveillance powers and its ability to collect bulk
data than it already had. The Investigatory Powers (IP) Bill, really
seeks to make legal what was illegal. These were the activities the UK
intelligence agencies have used for years to collect, store and access
information about internet users which continues to cause consternation
with privacy advocates and frustration with the government.
There are two basic arguments. Critics of the bill say the ‘snoopers
charter’ undermines basic human rights on the grounds that it is
infringing many aspects of peoples private lives. The government
position is that it is necessary to combat terrorism.
It is here that a state of eternal perplexity is argued over. The
government uses the argument that to keep us safe they need to know what
everyone is doing. Citizens expect the government to ensure safety,
particularly from terrorists. The problem is two fold and neither are
difficult to understand at all. People do not trust thegovernment with
all this information and people know that the government will lie and go
beyond an agreed mandate anyway. We know this because on both accounts
it was Edward Snowden who made everyone aware of the problem in the
first place, not the government. In the meantime, the government view on
whistleblowers says it all, as does its treatment of Julian Assange and
others.
