Emergency terror law
Phone companies, internet companies, to be required to retain data on their customesr, who is communicating with who, who is accessing what.
Forcing ISPs to retain the data of every UK citizen is disproportionate and unnecessary. — Jim Killock, director of Open Rights Group
It is a basic principle of a free society that you don’t monitor people who are not under suspicion. — Emma Carr, acting director of Big Brother Watch
Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. — Ben Franklin
When party leaders meet in secret and agree to pass emergency legislation to stitch up the public, then you know something stinks. When the emergency legislation is terror legislation, the stench is even stronger.
Following a ruling by The European Court of Justice, that it is illegal to collect and store mass data on everyone on their use of internet and phone, the ConDen government with the full support of spineless Ed Miliband, is to rush through emergency legislation.
Whilst few would object to surveillance of suspects of crimes, nothing can justify putting the entire population under mass surveillance.
Maybe if the ConDem government spent less time on putting its own house in order, for example the Westminster Paedophile Ring cover-up. How did ISIS emerge out of the desert? How did Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris get away with it for five decades? Why did no one know about phone hacking by criminals in the pay of Rupert Murdoch?
Telecom and internet companies will be forced to retain e-mails and phone calls, websites accessed, and the use of social media, for twelve months.
The European Court of Justice made its ruling in April, why the sudden haste?
There has been only muted response from telecoms and internet companies. The reason why, it will prove to be a nice little earner for them, the ConDem government is to pay them millions of pounds for their data harvesting.
This bad law, Data Retention and Investigatory Powers, is being rushed through with unseemly haste. There will be no proper Parliamentary scrutiny. And as we have seen with other rushed through, badly drafted terror legislation, it is abused and used to criminalise democratic dissent.
It is important we make make very clear to Parliamentarians, that this bad law must not be passed.
Please e-mail your Member of Parliament and make your views known.
If we do not stop this Bill passing through Parliament, Commons on Tuesday, Lords on Wednesday, it will be law by the end of the week.
We are not at war, a State of Emergency has not been declared, so apart from the fact that this is bad legislation, what is the emergency that requires normal democratic procedures to be suspended?
