This is what happens when the government allows the camel to get its nose into the tent on the issue of data retention:
A European Union directive, which Britain was instrumental in devising, comes into force which will require all internet service providers to retain information on email traffic, visits to web sites and telephone calls made over the internet, for 12 months.
Police and the security services will be able to access the information to combat crime and terrorism.
Hundreds of public bodies and quangos, including local councils, will also be able to access the data to investigate flytipping and other less serious crimes.
It was previously thought that only the large companies would be required to take part, covering 95 per cent of Britain's internet usage, but a Home Office spokesman has confirmed it will be applied "across the board" to even the smallest company.
Privacy campaigners say the move to force telecoms companies to store the data is the first step towards the controversial central database at the heart of the Home Office's Intercept Modernisation Programme, which will gather far more detailed information on Britain's online activities.
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: "I don't think people are aware of the implications of this move. It means that everything we do online or on the phone will be known to the authorities.
"They are using this to produce probably the world's most comprehensive surveillance system.
The Stasi would be proud to have lost to a people who would go on to make a surveillance system that is far more comprehensive than anything they had ever been able to attempt. What you see here is precisely the reason why I say that data retention simply must be opposed on principle. No compromises, no "reasonable regulations." Once the legal and technological infrastructure is in place, government surveillance on a level previously never imagined will be possible in the United States--much of it automated. Even if ostensibly 4th amendment-friendly controls are put into place, the only protection that the public will have at that point is the willingness of the government to obey its own regulations, something which federal law enforcement has shown time and again that it cannot regarding the USA PATRIOT Act according to the FBI's Office of the Inspector General.
If Britain persists in creating this database, then they will succeed only in creating one of the most tempting information targets in human history. There are a lot of criminals and foreign intelligence services that would love to get their hands on all of that personal, financial and communication information for purposes ranging from datamining for credit card information, to analyzing call patterns in Britain to find links between government agencies, individuals and private businesses.
Well, with the large number of Euro-philes in the Dem party, shouldn't be too long before it gets set up here.
Mike, you're spot on. Such a target will be irresistable. Orgainised crime will put their best hackers on it, and they have some very good ones. They will get their hands on it.
I think Britons could probably look forward to periods of more than a year as storage capacity increases.
These types of regulations are sometimes, read that often, favored by larger companies as the increased cost destroy the smaller more nimble competition. We see support for such things across all industries so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the larger companies have supported this legislation.
After all, big business requires big government.
Billiam, you're funny: you think there are two different parties here.