“The UK has just passed a massive expansion in surveillance powers, which critics have called ‘terrifying’ and ‘dangerous,'” Zack Whittaker reports for ZDNet. “The new law, dubbed the “snoopers’ charter”, was introduced by then-home secretary Theresa May in 2012, and took two attempts to get passed into law following breakdowns in the previous coalition government.”
“Four years and a general election later — May is now prime minister — the bill was finalized and passed on Wednesday by both parliamentary houses,” Whittaker reports. “But civil liberties groups have long criticized the bill, with some arguing that the law will let the UK government ‘document everything we do online.'”
“It’s no wonder, because it basically does,” Whittaker reports. “The law will force internet providers to record every internet customer’s top-level web history in real-time for up to a year, which can be accessed by numerous government departments; force companies to decrypt data on demand — though the government has never been that clear on exactly how it forces foreign firms to do that that; and even disclose any new security features in products before they launch. Not only that, the law also gives the intelligence agencies the power to hack into computers and devices of citizens (known as equipment interference), although some protected professions — such as journalists and medical staff — are layered with marginally better protections.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Fools.
Look like Airstrip One was already too far gone. It’s not enough that every Brit alive has at least one government camera shoved up their ass 24/7/365?
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
SEE ALSO:
Apple teams up with other tech firms attack UK government’s Investigatory Powers Bill – March 26, 2016
UK’s Orwellian ‘Investigatory Powers Bill’ seeks to track every Brit’s online activity – February 9, 2016
Apple makes a strong case for strong encryption; some politicians don’t know what they’re talking about – December 22, 2015
Wikipedia founder: Apple should stop selling iPhones in the UK if ‘stupid’ new law banning Apple encryption is enacted – November 4, 2015
UK Prime Minister Cameron backs law to make Apple’s iPhone encryption illegal – November 3, 2015
