The coalition has demonstrated that it is as cavalier with our civil liberties as its egregious predecessor. Here we are, two years in and we are getting the same oppressive bills being rolled out – one realises at this point that the hidden government of the distinctly uncivil service is the root of the rot and the politicians who are transient are merely window dressing for the real operatives here.
The idea that snooping on our communications – everyone, not just those suspected of criminal intent – is going to somehow stop terrorism, which of course is the usual excuse rolled out every time a government wants to clamp down on the liberties of the population is an absurdity:
The government said that updated legislation to take account of new technology was vital in the fight against criminals and terrorists.
No, it is not vital at all. Indeed, it is not even necessary. They already have the facility to snoop on suspects if they have sufficient cause, in which case, they can go before a judge and get a court order. The rest of us can be left alone as it should be.
Remind me, someone, just how many terrorist attacks have there actually been in the past decade or so? Oh, yeah, that’s right, the actual risk is tiny, miniscule, bordering on the non-existent. So tiny that it does not warrant massive expense and intrusion. Yes, there is a risk. However, let’s keep it in proportion, please. Frankly, I have more to worry about with trigger happy cops than I do a mad mullah with a container of fertiliser.
Facetiousness aside, that is quite apart from the obvious fact that has already been pointed out by privacy groups, that the determined will get around any such controls anyway. After all, they can simply switch back to pen and paper if they really want to – assuming that we will also see clampdowns stopping people buying disposable PAYG mobile phones.
As I discovered a few weeks back, using anonymous proxies to bypass this is a waste of time. I managed to uncover the user of an anonymous proxy just by using a WordPress plugin. I don’t know how effective VPNs will prove to be, but if this comes about – if it is not killed by various opposition MPs and rebels on the government benches,that is – this might be the route to take. As i understand it, the database maintained by the ISP will simply show that the user has accessed the VPN – thereafter will not be recorded. That’s if I am correct…
Anyway, if I was determined to carry out some nefarious activity, would I really be stupid enough to put it on FarceBook or Twatter? Really? On the other hand, people do say things there that government might want to control or restrict because it is “hate speech” – or, as Eric Blair would have called it, thoughtcrime. And that, frankly, is what this is all about. The terrorist is as is usual offered as the justification when totalitarian legislation is being rolled out in order to control what we may say or think. Nothing new here, just the names on the tin.
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And if you want an example of just why these evil shits should not have these powers, the police give us one:
Chief Constable Mick Creedon, the national spokesman for serious organised crime, said officers should use the powers, aimed at serious crime and terrorism, to access the phone records of drivers who pose a risk.
See? Nothing to do with terrorism or organised crime. This is about monitoring and tracking ordinary people who may be committing minor offences. It always was.
re: proxies – it depends how they (and the client) are configured. If they don’t provide X-Forwarded-For headers (or equivalents), they can be quite anonymising – but VPNs are definitely safer.
Your ISP will show a connection to “something”, but all that traffic should be encrypted. Unless someone gets access to the VPN machine itself (and thereby the endpoint), or the VPN provider stores logs ala your ISP and serves them up when requested, then VPN based browsing is safer. OpenVPN, for example, can be configured to run on the same port as a secure (HTTPS) website – and as it uses SSL can look like accessing a secure website – although if your only traffic is to one point, then it’s rapidly obvious what is being used.
There are ways to subvert VPNs (MITM attacks, faked certificates) which is something TPTB could easily invest time in, but with caution, those methods can be detected also…
Wonder when they’ll bring in legislation that allows them to open and read all snail mail? 🙂
These last 2 governments have given a masterclass in how to fuck up a country.
They can already read prison mail, so we’ll all just be declared “prisoners”, much easier.
I do however, predict that use of any encryption other than for banking and on-line commerce (with a list of registered sites) will get targetted. Something insane like a government issued certificate provider, who signs everything – so they can decrypt it – then any traffic NOT signed by said certificate authority is either dropped, or flagged.
Trouble is – it’s not just a circus but a freedom snuffling circus.
Well I never, looking for needles in haystacks?
The solution’s obvious isn’t it, multiply the number of haystacks exponentially.
Dead simple. If you’re a fucking idiot that is.
Cretins on a power trip – a dangerous combination.