Emails to be monitored

The government will be able to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK under new legislation set to be announced soon.

Not sure if this is a April fools or not, but I would hate this if true...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17576745

(01-04-2012 10:57 )Money_Shot Wrote:  The government will be able to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK under new legislation set to be announced soon.

Not sure if this is a April fools or not, but I would hate this if true...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17576745

Quote from above article
"Internet firms will be required to give intelligence agency GCHQ access to communications on demand, in real time."

This means they will only monitor those that they want to monitor.

Obviously to monitor everyone in real time would require a lot more (hundreds of thousands maybe) GCHQ employees than they have.

And all they will be allowed is to find out who you've been in contact with. To see or hear the content of the e-mails/phone calls/web access they will need a warrant.

However, as with anything like this, the chance to abuse the power will be there, and individuals (and even the authorities themselves) will find it hard to resist the temptation to go on fishing expeditions for personal or political purposes.

Remember the 3rd of the Bourne movies, where the journalist mentions a key word in a telephone conversation, and it triggers an alarm on a screen in the CIA, and sets a whole process in motion that ends with his execution?

Doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore does it!!