e-ignite

According to a number of recent BBC News articles, the UK government are currently considering creating a massive database logging all phone calls and emails sent. As usual, the excuse for needing such a database is “Terrorism” or “serious crime”, but at what point must voters and members of the public say that enough is enough? It is inconceivable to think that each and every call that is made is logged and every email that you send is noted - with current mobile phone technology, it’s possible for your location to be pin-pointed (simply download the Google Maps java application to your mobile handset and see for yourself by clickong on “my location”) so does this mean that yourlocation at the time of the call would be logged? It’s absolutely possible.

We’ve seen the function creep of technologies like this already - for example, average speed cameras that use number plate recognition to catch those speeding were installed under the promise that they would only ever be used for the purposes of speed control. Now though, we see that they are used to track movements of “terrorists” or “serious criminals”. With a database of all calls made and received, will the function eventually creep so that your exact location is logged every fifteen minutes or so when your mobile phone “checks in” with the network? Email on the move is also susceptible to this form of tracking - the IP address that sends the email could be tracked and in the future, why would they not start logging all the websites you’ve visited recently?

It really is frightening to think that this form of culture has become acceptable and that people simply “don’t care” that their privacy is being taken away from them. As the BBC News story reports, Britain is in danger of “sleep-walking into a surveillance society” - some may argue it is there already.

With several major data protection breaches being widely publicised in the media of late, how can the government justify trying to record more and more information if they can’t protect it properly? Should data such as this be leaked into the wrong hands, the consequences could be dire - imagine people’s movements and communications being tracked and used against them in blackmail or extortion. It may seem like an extreme reaction to an issue that, to some, may seem fairly minor. However, it is important to think of the possible consequences of such a move and decide if it will be a minor issue in the long run.

Minor? Personally, I think not.