How can they get away with this?

[Helix666]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/au...civilliberties

(Yes, yes, I know... the correct answer is "because they're the government".)

Local councils, health authorities and hundreds of other public bodies are to be given the power to access details of everyone's personal text, emails and internet use under Home Office proposals published yesterday.

And all this "is vital in the fight against terrorism" and to "protect the public".

I feel safer already. In case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm.

What annoys me is that so few people seem to care about this...
"If you've done nothing wrong..."

(Sorry, just needed to rant a little... What's your thoughts?)

[nevermind1534]

I guess I'm weird, I didn't really care too much about the wiretapping in the US. I'm not a terrorist, although I could get a civil lawsuit against me by certain unions, but thankfully, the government doesn't give them evidence (yet).

[p0Pe]

it is lame... if you exclude 9/11 less people have died in the US than people who broke their toes on getting their socks on!.. thats wacked...

all in all... mankind brought it on themself (i sound like an alien now), that we always need something to be afraid of... the curch, going to hell, wiches, and now terrorism... governments just need to get people scared so that they can manipulate them...

[XcOM]

http://img.metro.co.uk/e-edition/Amh...rces/index.htm

[Durrthock]

Who cares, why does it matter, they basically punish themselves, they want to read a billion texts that say "I luv u" or "he iz a total hoty, Lulz" They can be my guest, basically, unless your a terrorist, who cares. Its probably just a scare tactic anyway.

[xRyokenx]

Anybody here read Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell? Well that seems to be what our government is on its way to becoming... like Big Brother, lol.

[Luke122]

Who cares, why does it matter, they basically punish themselves, they want to read a billion texts that say "I luv u" or "he iz a total hoty, Lulz" They can be my guest, basically, unless your a terrorist, who cares. Its probably just a scare tactic anyway.

But honestly.. even if you have nothing to hide, you are basically giving away your right to privacy.

I read something somewhere.. I'm trying to find it.. but it was basically,

"When they took away guns, I said nothing because I had no guns. When they took away our freedom of speech, I could say nothing."

[Airbozo]

1984 has already happened in most of Europe. You can not go anywhere without being watched.

The US has been trying to do similar things for years, but we have this silly document called the "Constitution" that prevents a lot of the intrusions the government wants.

Durrthock: I know you may not think this affects you (and at the moment it does not since this is only in the EU), but any erosion of our rights or freedoms is of concern to ALL citizens of the US. Just like the warrant less wiretaps. I am not as concerned about my government's use of that info as much as I am worried about who else may be able to see it. Think of the guys that got busted years ago for taping girls in the changing rooms and then posting the videos online. The law in the EU has similar concerns for me. I am not the paranoid conspiracy theory kind of guy, so I mostly trust what my government does with the info (or I would never sleep...), but I am more worried about the individuals that see that info and want to use it for their own personal gain.

[OvRiDe]

Who cares, why does it matter, they basically punish themselves, they want to read a billion texts that say "I luv u" or "he iz a total hoty, Lulz" They can be my guest, basically, unless your a terrorist, who cares. Its probably just a scare tactic anyway.

Unfortunately alot of people share this attitude, and are willing to give in on these types of situations. They feel that its no big deal, the problem is we have no idea how that is going to be used later down the road. One thing to remember, once the Gov't takes a hold of something they never let it go, so from then on, they can do with it what they please, whether its legal or not.

[Luke122]

One thing to remember, once the Gov't takes a hold of something they never let it go

Standard policy in Canada is minimum 7 years retention for all collected data.