Ever forgotten who you have mailed - don't worry - even if you cannot remember, your UK ISP will be able to tell you. They have been unofficially recording the sender and receiver of every email sent for a while now. In March 2009, the system becomes official and required by law. Every ISP will have to record the sender and the recipient for every email sent and it is all being done in the name of fighting terror and intelligence gathering.
From the BBC:
At the end of the article something far more sinister is mentioned - "The Intercept Modernisation Program" - which will involve one central data base gathering details of every email sent, every text sent, every phone call made and every website visited.
The irony of all this is that it is still an offense in this country to interfere with the "Royal Mail" - punishable with a fine and or a prison sentence.
Big Brother is not only going to be watching us, but reading us, too and listening to our every word - both written and spoken.
We are well on the way to sacrificing our privacy for "security."
"From March all internet service providers (ISP's) will by law have to keep information about every e-mail sent or received in the UK for a year. The Home Office insists the data, which does not include e-mails' content, is vital for crime and terror inquiries."Now they will be able to track your whereabouts whenever you send an email - as well as when you switch on your GPS or your mobile phone or pass one of the millions of CCTV cameras.
At the end of the article something far more sinister is mentioned - "The Intercept Modernisation Program" - which will involve one central data base gathering details of every email sent, every text sent, every phone call made and every website visited.
The irony of all this is that it is still an offense in this country to interfere with the "Royal Mail" - punishable with a fine and or a prison sentence.
Big Brother is not only going to be watching us, but reading us, too and listening to our every word - both written and spoken.
We are well on the way to sacrificing our privacy for "security."
What a frightening story, Nicola!
Are there any attempts afoot in the UK to scramble email from one endpoint to another in order to preserve some sense of security between innocent parties? Or has that option been outlawed by the system?
Those that can - and know how to often encrypt their emails which I think affords some modicum of privacy.
Others use proxy servers - for all their web access including email.
They say that the contents of the mail are not recorded - just who sent and who received it.
However given the amount of data mislaid by the government already and the level of distrust that currently exists - most people are very cynical about that claim.
There seems to be a lot of confusion from the government down about how this is all going to work and who is going to be affected.
Small ISP's are currently not required to provide the data on the voluntary basis that the large ISP's already do. If small ISP's are exempt from the new law I can see a new growth industry - small ISP's.
How strange, Nicola! Why not require every ISP to participate?
Using VPNs and other end-arounds seem to give the bad guys the edge while punishing the lawful.
What's the point of recording "TO" and "FROM" without also keeping the contents?
Initially I suspect think it was a cost break to the smaller ISP's - also by asking the large ISP's to participate they get/got 90%/95% of the traffic.
Allegedly the point is *anti- terror* - and intelligence gathering - watching patterns of traffic and interpreting normal traffic patters and spikes. (Wish I could say it was anti-spam measures!).
I assume that the ant terror card also included civil disobedience - like the coordination of the fuel protests a couple of years ago which were entirely mobilized by email and text.
If the IMP comes to fruition - not only will be watched outside our homes but inside our homes as well.
Every breath we take - every move we make they will be watching US.
It's an amazing story, Nicola!
I love your point that the ISPs can't fight Spam, but they're going to help surveill terror emails? That's a big laugh!
I can see a new internet crime of "email bombing" coming - a different type of hacking/testing the system.
Hi Nicola,
I enjoyed reading your perspective on the 'intercept' issue - I think it is slightly worrying that the BBC, and therefore most people in Britain, consider the legal moves upcoming in March to be 'news'!
I have been doing some background reading - I think the "news element" comes from the coordinated number of academics and civil liberties lawyers speaking out about it today. Somewhere there has been a press release - wonder if it was by email?
Hi Nicola,
Excellent topic but terrifying...it makes one feel so exposed and vulnerable...