Oppose the "Snooper's Charter"!

[mysterious_cities_of_mold]

The Investigatory Powers Act or "Snoopers Charter" has been passed this week by the UK government.

The new surveillance law requires web and phone companies in the UK to store everyone’s web browsing histories for 12 months and give the police, security services and official agencies unprecedented access to the data.

Please sign the petition at the following link to show your opposition to the act.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/173199

[little_charlotte]

I don't have a problem with it so won't be signing I'm afraid.

[jh-middlesex]

If you are doing nothing wrong why would you be bothered by this?

i am not signing either, i ma happy for them to use whatever means they can to catch criminals and terrorists

[daggorx]

Bit like speed cameras - they only have a detremental effect on those who are speeding.

What's wrong with that?

Just been caught myself as it happens 35mph in a 30 zone.

Won't be doing that again.     

[richardmsstuff]

It's OK when you have a government you trust absolutely not to misuse those powers. What happens in the future if there's a government you don't trust at all. Will it still be OK?

[rightgrand]

Too late anyway - this petition is months old, has already been responded to, and the law was signed by the queen yesterday...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigatory_Powers_Act_2016

Check out the list of public bodies that can access your data - it's a lot more than the police.

[muvva!]

Anyone on benefits might be interested to know that the DWP can now access you browsing history.

I can't see any reason why they would need this information, but you can bet your bottom dollar that this will be used to sanction yet more people!

[rightgrand]

I certainly won't be criticising our glorious leaders on the internet any more.

All hail our mighty rulers.

[*vyolla*]

I guess that Tor will start charging. 

[muvva!]

Using Tor has been known to makes one's ISP start to take notice of this and investigate why

[richardmsstuff]

It's later than you think. The security services have been trying to get this law on the books for a long time. The reason is not that they want to start doing this; it's because they want something they've been doing illegally up until now to actually be lawful.

The information they collect is also shared with other governments, including the USA. But - they're all completely trustworthy, right?

[daggorx]

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@richardmsstuff wrote:

It's OK when you have a government you trust absolutely not to misuse those powers. What happens in the future if there's a government you don't trust at all. Will it still be OK?

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Never trusted a politician in my life - never will.

[*vyolla*]

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@muvva! wrote:
Using Tor has been known to makes one's ISP start to take notice of this and investigate why

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Think that's a bit of an internet myth. How do you investigate the invisible? If they could do that, it would be easier to catch terrorists and find the peadophiles. And it isn't.

Plus, many people who work in any kind of digital marketing will have it to test their seeding placements.

[richardmsstuff]

More and more of the traffic that ISPs see traversing their networks is fully encrypted using an unbreakable method (supposedly). This includes TOR, VPN, and https. The can see where it came from and where it's going (except for TOR/VPN) but they can't always see what's in it. Governments everywhere would love to break the encryption. It's one thing they have in common with the criminal hacker community.

[*guinevere*]

The question we should be asking is will it help to stop terrorism and will it help to catch paedophiles and prevent child pornography? If the answer is yes then we should be all for it. 

The trouble is, it's like every other good idea that has ever gone before.

It will be open to abuse.

I can't for the life of me see why looking at people's searches who are on benefits could be of any use to anyone? 

Maybe the information should be restricted to viewing by Special Branch Police and MI5 only,

[little_charlotte]

To see if you have been doing work on the sly maybe?

They will only be looking at people who they suspect in the first place.

If we have a government we don't trust in the future, it's our own fault for voting them in.

[jd.linklater]

I have no objection to it either so I won't be signing. Anything that helps in the fight against terrorism has to be for the public good, if it helps to identify paedophiles and bring them to justice that can only be a bonus.

[joe_bloggs*]

Those with 'something to hide' will continue to circumvent such surveillance with the use of VPNs, TOR etc.

So (ironically) the only people who do have something to fear are those who think they've got nothing to hide.

As David Davis MP put it: 'The innocent and the incompetent' Bit strange though that MP's will be exempt?

As Frankie Boyle says: 

one misspelled Google search for ‘bong-making’ and you’ll be in an orange jumpsuit 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/10/frankie-boyle-theresa-may-internet-surveillanc...

[al**bear]

Encrypt your data and use VPNs

Make it as hard as possible for them to spy on You

[cee-dee]

ISPs willll have their eyes out for people using VPNs and will think they've got summat to hide.