Following the recent drug factory raid in Plymouth of 6 houses being used as factories and the raids happened within 2 weeks shows how much drug dealing goes on let alone other crimes, the money they are using could go to stopping these crimes.
If they went ahead with this it would be great if all the hard drives failed, all the time, effort and money would be for nothing. I think it is pointless really, what are they going to achieve. I dont think it will ever happen, I remember seeing something in the paper about 6 months ago that they are going to have a database that tracks everything you do on the computer, online shopping, emails, websites visited. Also phone calls and so on and they said it would be up and running within a few months and it didn't happen, now they are on about sort of the same thing, wont happen in my eyes.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Why is it even necessary at all? Billions of pounds on an IT project to monitor all communication between 60 million people. How many of them are terrorists? It's a pointlessly and offensively invasive, not to mention obscenely expensive white elephant.

To an extent i agree, this is unworkable in it's current (and limited) outline. But if it was targeted correctly it could not only be used to target terrorism, but also drug dealing, people trafficking, child prostitution and other criminal activities. Now if it was to be targeted correctly and used efficiently (i know it's a long shot but it's a dream) then surely it is the lesser of 2 evils.

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

To an extent i agree, this is unworkable in it's current (and limited) outline. But if it was targeted correctly it could not only be used to target terrorism, but also drug dealing, people trafficking, child prostitution and other criminal activities. Now if it was to be targeted correctly and used efficiently (i know it's a long shot but it's a dream) then surely it is the lesser of 2 evils.

Do you feel that those types of crime are getting out of control? Do you think there's a compelling argument for spending a small fortune on what will probably be an ineffective counter-measure? Are you willing to give up your personal privacy completely in order to feel a bit safer?

As has already been pointed out, the intelligence services can already monitor suspects' communications anyway. This isn't about monitoring criminals, it's about monitoring the rest of us.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

If they're going to treat us like criminals, let's act like criminals. Torch your council offices tomorrow.

"If you love God, burn a church." Seems fitting.. kinda.

If the government can get this information, the criminals can, too. Terrorists won't use it, but ID thieves and other criminals will. Seems the government likes to ignore this.

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

I'm Loving this moral outrage here.

Don't you know that in School/work they can monitor/read any emails sent and any website visited....why is the government doing it any different?

Work and school is not private property, and the facilities there are not to be used for private purposes, that is a totally different thing all together. It is not the same.

On the upside that sounds like a hell of a lot of job creation. Who's going to read all those 1,800 text messages being sent every second? Not to mention the phone calls, emails and whatnot. At the rate we chat on you'd almost need one person for every person!?!

Sounds boring too but I guess it's just like reality TV only you'd actually be getting paid. Someone's dream job I bet.

Why dont they use the money to help banks and unemployement and so on. Use to it to help sort out the credit crunch

it just meens less tech savvy criminals can be caught, organised crime is a bit more savvy these days. It will not effect major crime and is an over investment for petit stuff.

it reminds me of the movie "Eagle Eye"

Exactly- people with something to hide will still be able to encrypt, that just leaves millions of normal people with their recipes from mum, plans for next Friday and viagra ads filling up the hard disks. Imagine sifting through all that!?

Quote from Electrik Kar :

Exactly- people with something to hide will still be able to encrypt, that just leaves millions of normal people with their recipes from mum, plans for next Friday and viagra ads filling up the hard disks. Imagine sifting through all that!?

The only thing is that the Government have access to encrypted files so they would still be able to get hold of data off of your computer etc...

I shall not be having an ID card. I am happy to spend the rest of my days in prison to stick to that. At least I get games consoles bought for me using your money

Errrr how would the decrypt them?

Quote from Electrik Kar :

Exactly- people with something to hide will still be able to encrypt, that just leaves millions of normal people with their recipes from mum, plans for next Friday and viagra ads filling up the hard disks. Imagine sifting through all that!?

There are evidence that they have been training donkeys for exactly this kind of work in a secret base in Slough.

Quote :

The only thing is that the Government have access to encrypted files so they would still be able to get hold of data off of your computer etc...

There are some forms of encryption the government can read because breaking them is easy. Other forms, like stuff based on PGP and private keys, they cant.

Criminals know this. Any I.T. tech in a corporate environment worth their salt knows this.

Quote from Becky Rose :

There are some forms of encryption the government can read because breaking them is easy. Other forms, like stuff based on PGP and private keys, they cant.

Criminals know this. Any I.T. tech in a corporate environment worth their salt knows this.

I see, When I was reading up on Legislations for my IT Coursework it said that the Government was allowed to either access encrypted data without you knowing or demand that you give them access to the encrypted data.
I thought there would be some encryptions they wouldn't have access to but it didn't say, it just said all data. I dont think though if they was just tracking what people were doing they would spend time decrypting files just for the sack over something that isn't very important as they are just tracking activity of the public.

I dont see the point in them doing this though, it hasn't done any harm since the Internet was created and didn't bother about tracking internet activity so what is the point now? Waste of money in my opinion.

As a British citizen you are legally allowed to make backups of any CD's you own, but this doesnt grant you the expertise and equipment to do it. Just because the government are allowed to decrypt your data does not meen they can.

And lets face it, stealthily reading your emails to identify you as the next pilot of a badly parked 747 isn't going to be to stealthy when an MI6 agent knocks on your door asking for your PGP key.

Quote from Becky Rose :

And lets face it, stealthily reading your emails to identify you as the next pilot of a badly parked 747 isn't going to be to stealthy when an MI6 agent knocks on your door asking for your PGP key.

ROFL !!

It's just plain madness I think,can't see this be put forward tbh.

Quote from mcintyrej :

Why are you worried?

You should only be worried if your doing things wrong. Thats what its there for.

So you'd be happy with them opening your post and coming round to search your house unnanounced? You've nothing to hide so why should you be bothered?

You have to draw the line somewhere, and my line is certainly futher back than allowing all my phonecalls to be tapped and emails to be read. What they do or don't contain is utterly beside the point.

Only dimwits reply "if you're doing nothing wrong then what's the problem". They haven't thought through the massive ramifications of allowing polititians too much power. They also haven't read 1984 (but they probably can't read anyway, although there is always the audio-book version).

It's at times like these when I worry because I am agreeing with Cliffe!

Imagine yourself sitting in the pub. A bloke then says to you: "I got a mate who has top access to that surveillance system. He's gonna plant evidence that you were collecting child porn. The cops pay you a visit, and your boss and your gf won't be happy. Now, if you just give me 5,000 quid before next Thursday..."

Quote from mcintyrej :

You should only be worried if your doing things wrong.

And in a single sentence you sum up everything that is despicable about this neurotic and conservative era where obedience is confused with virtue.

Are you not even going to ask what a 'wrong' is? If not, then you don't deserve the flesh you walk in.

You know that feeling of guilt you have when the police knock at your door, even if you have done nothing wrong? Well I don't want to constantly feel like that, and the anti-terrorism laws are already being abused by the police, with police stopping and searching more people, and a massive increase in complaints made against the police, so imagine how bad it will be with ID cards.

ID cards are traditionally used by totalitarian dictators to control the people, just take a look at the list of countries that have them. Oh and they don't stop terrorism, at all. The London bombers had full UK passports and ID on them when they blew up those trains, the 9/11 bombers also had valid passports.

There is no reason for ID cards, the only thing the government want them for is selling your personal information to cover the cost of illegal wars. As for spying on E-Mails and phone calls, they already spy on phone calls, listening for key words then recording the call, so it's no suprise they will do it with E-mail too.

Knowledge is power.

In the history of all nations nothing good has ever come from a government seeking to extend the power that has been granted them.

Having established that this system will not serve it's intended purpose, by design. Therefore one has to view this system as a means of data mining.

Knowledge is power.

And then ALL your data will be on a hard drive or CD somewhere, which WILL be sold on Ebay eventually to the highest bidder. Do you want that?