IP: U.K police demand new ways to snoop online

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Is the US next for this lunacy. Remember Ben Franklin


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary 
 safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."       - Ben Franklin, ~1784


Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 21:59:51 +0100
From: Alan Donnelly <freenet () globalnet co uk>
To: declan () well com


Declan,


I dont know the procedure for sending you interesting articles, I hope this
is okay.






The PC in your mailbox


The police may soon be allowed to read your email and check your Internet
use at will. By Paul Lavin


When you drop an envelope in a red pillar-box, you walk away confident that
your mail will not be read by anyone except the addressee. However, when you
send an email, it might be wise to reflect on the differences.


According to the organisation Internet Freedom, an agreement being
negotiated between the UK's internet service providers (ISPs) and the police
will open the email of the UK's eight million Internet users to scrutiny
without debate in Parliament or oversight by the courts or the Home
Secretary.


British police are said to be close to reaching an agreement with ISPs that
will enable them to monitor customers' emails and web usage logs. Chris
Ellison of Internet Freedom, says: "Following a series of meetings between
the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and Internet industry
representatives, we understand that both groups have stated a willingness to
reach a 'memorandum of understanding' about implementing police access to
private data held by ISPs."


[...]


While the Act has aspects that protect the quality and use of information
held in computer systems, disclosure can be afforded by a compliant ISP by
simply including appropriate language in the small print of their terms and
conditions. Data may be revealed to law enforcement officials as long as the
subscriber is notified.


[...]


Email is not like a letter in an envelope; it is more like a postcard. Just
as you would not put some messages on a postcard, you should think before
you use email for your most private communications. While the legality and
desirability of the any agreement between ACPO and the ISPs is highly
debatable, anyone interested in maintaining their privacy on the Internet
must take responsibility for their own actions.


The agreement between ACPO and ISPs will be the subject of three seminars:
22 September in Edinburgh, 8 October in London and 27 October in Manchester.
Additional details can be found at http://www.linx.net/
misc/acposeminar.html.


http://www.independent.co.uk/net/980907ne/index.html










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