Good Bye Freedom, Hello Police State Britain.

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Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say.
The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones.
Source - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece

Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain.

GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre, has already been given up to £1 billion to finance the first stage of the project.
Source - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4882600.ece

Yesterday, the first worldwide protests against surveillance measures such as the collection of all telecommunications data, the surveillance of air travellers and the biometric registration of citizens were held under the motto "Freedom not Fear - Stop the surveillance mania!". In at least 15 countries citizens demanded a cutback on surveillance, a moratorium on new surveillance powers and an independent evaluation of existing surveillance powers. "A free and open society cannot exist without unconditionally private spaces and communications", explains an international memorandum.
Source - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/242/144/

Taking liberties is a British made documentary, its 1hours 40mins long. Its a good watch.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3351275215846218544&q

Looks like we brits don't care about our own privacy.

If you dont agree you can sign the petition here:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/privacy-matters/

Welcome to Police State Britain.
 
Signed. I think it's morally reprehensible that we are giving up the freedoms that men and women of this country died to protect.

The IRA were described by British Military intelligence as "professional, dedicated, highly skilled and resilient." and we didn't put up with this rubbish then and they killed far more citizens of the UK on UK soil. The climate of fear doesn't keep us safe, it's just taking away something I think is important, something fundamentally British. They can try and blow us up, we just bloody well get on with it. We do not give in to terrorism. The money would be better spent putting more real police on the streets and adding more human resources to MI5 and MI6, or better yet, hospitals and schools.
 
Reading around on this subject, I'm not sure why people are so surprised by this. Land-line calls are already recorded and monitored.

Outraged? Yes, but surprised? The "ordinary public" really need to wake up a bit.
 
If there is enough rise against all this then all it will take is another bombing run like London to get people fearful enough to accept this. No matter what we sign, how much we protest, there is no getting away from this.

I believe that WTC attacks and the London bombings were to push through a reason to not only go to war but to secure and monitor all the citizens of the world at one point. Call me tin foil hat man all you want but it's a certainty that it's going to happen in our lifetime. Just look what's been happening since such attacks. Time will tell though :).
 
I dont have a problem with registering mobile phones etc to be honest. Same goes for an ID card.

It's only people who have summat to hide that dont want them.
 
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Signed. I think it's morally reprehensible that we are giving up the freedoms that men and women of this country died to protect.

Absolutely. However, I can't get over a slight feeling of irony. We are typing our names, addresses and email addresses into a database to petition against this?

So once they've got your data, they know just who to come for!

 
I sont have a problem with registering mobile phones etc to be honest. Same goes for an ID card.

It's only people who have summat to hide that dont want them.
No it really isn't. People that hold this opinion are part of the problem. You really need to educate yourself on the matter.
 
It's only people who have summat to hide that dont want them.

What, like Mr Terrorist?

In this day and age where data is everything and there is enough in your bin to steal your identity, they sure as hell arn't going to use thier own data are they? :)

Smacks of NuLabours control the population technique, since communism died out and the cold war, they need something to keep everyone in check.
 
I sont have a problem with registering mobile phones etc to be honest. Same goes for an ID card.

It's only people who have summat to hide that dont want them.

WRONG (</lex luthor>)

OK, if you've got nothing to hide then, mind if I watch you while you shower? Mind if I read through all your mail and the mail of everyone you know? Watch you 24/7, see who your friends are, see if ever knew someone who's now on a watchlist. I'll just be recording the number of times you see people, who you see, when you see them, what time you see then, what you do with them. Any that you're close to will obviously go through extra screening, what if you're having sex with someone who has sympathy for those who threaten our country or the countries of our allies? Or worse, what if they know a muslim? If they do, then obviously we won't be able to let you fly on an aircraft or board a subway train, you pose too high a threat. Feeling safer and more secure? Feeling that your privacy is being respected?

Hmm... Starting to understand the difference between "security" and "privacy" and that they are neither mutually exclusive nor opposite ends of the same spectrum?

If you're interested, Schneier did a good post about the difference if you'd rather listen to one of the greatest minds in security in the modern age....
 
Why?

Give me your reasons why such a database would be a bad idea.

Other than "I dont want my details kept there"
Unless you know nothing of technology, and haven't read any technology related story in the last 30 years it should be fairly obvious.

A centralised, government IT scheme to hold all the details of n number of people? The implications of that are bad enough to begin with.

Then consider whats next. What are they going to record next? Why shouldn't innocent people protest against this invasion of privacy? When do they start installing telemonitors in your house?

Then there is the following odd bit:
The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones.
How the hell is this going to help? Your average terrorist is not going to walk into an o2 shop and order a prepaid sim card. They're going to do it in bulk via the web, the slightly more savvy ones with fake identities.
 
Why?

Give me your reasons why such a database would be a bad idea.

Other than "I dont want my details kept there"

Ok, how about I start a database and get all your details, address, all family members, all bills and bank statments. Plus those of the rest of your family. If you could just pop those in an e-mail I'll keep them in a file, you've nothing to hide so you won't have a problem with this yes?

If you're prepared to give the government your details as you think of them as a father figure or similar then it's a bit dangerous, your details will be safer with me I can assure you, look at the governments current track record on keeping files safe.

Also, 20 years time - something happens and this government gets overturned and another gets in. Who are they, do you trust them, did they get in to power against the peoples will? Still happy they have every last details of everything you've ever done or said?? It's entierly possible even without a tin foil hat. The world changes a huge amount in short amounts of time, think back to your grand parents time, things were a LOT different then and things will be a lot different soon.
 
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