So! The British Home Office announced yesterday that new legislation will soon allow the government to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of every single person in the UK. The Home Office then had to clarify that, no, this was not some sort of elaborate April Fools prank.

The new law will not allow direct access to the content of emails and such without a warrant, but it would allow intelligence officers to monitor who it is you’re contacting, how often, and for how long, as well as the entirety of your web history.

Because they really need to know stuff like that if they want to fight the terrorists, right? Those guys are everywhere.

Said the Home Office spokesperson when the law was brought up at a recent press conference:

It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public.
…
As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows to ensure that the use of communications data is compatible with the government’s approach to civil liberties.

“Approach to civil liberties” was an especially nice touch.

The law should be announced during the Queen’s Speech in mid-May. Maybe clean out your search history before then.

Ignorance is strength.

[Source: BBC]