UK government wants to monitor all social networking sites

[Kay]

Big Brother will no longer just be a TV show in the UK- he will be watching you soon if this goes through.


The U.K. government is considering the mass surveillance and retention of all user communications on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo.

Vernon Coaker the U.K. Home Office security minister, on Monday said the EU Data Retention Directive, under which Internet service providers must store communications data for 12 months, does not go far enough. Communications such as those on social-networking sites and via instant-messaging services could also be monitored, he said.

"Social-networking sites such as MySpace or Bebo are not covered by the directive," said Coaker, speaking at a meeting of the House of Commons Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee. "That is one reason why the government (is) looking at what we should do about the Intercept(ion) Modernisation Programme, because there are certain aspects of communications which are not covered by the directive."

Article. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10199107-83.html)

[Fergal]

Personally it wouldn't bother me if the government was having a look at my social networking activities. I've nothing to hide, but looking through my updates would be quite a boring job for the government employee tasked to do it.

[Nazreen]

I read an article before that some terrorists are using social networking sites to lure potential recruits to their organization. Some are also using it for other crimes such as child pornography. These might be the main reasons why the UK government suddenly want to keep tabs of social networking activities.

In my opinion, they shouldn't keep tabs on everyone's activities. They should only do this to those that they suspect of doing criminal activities using the internet.

[Fergal]

I read an article before that some terrorists are using social networking sites to lure potential recruits to their organization. Some are also using it for other crimes such as child pornography....

If Internet surveillance helps prevents theses kinds of activities, then I'm all for letting governments access my social networking activities.

[scifi]

It reminds me of Zeitgeist documentary..:rolleyes:.I think if you have seen this documentary then you can easily understand my point...Please Google it to know more about this term...I don't want to start a discussion on this but would like to aware everyone of the probable connection with this news...!!!!!

[Kay]

I agree only those that have something to hide should be really worried but I still feel it's an invasion of privacy for the law abiding majority. If they have just cause as Nazreen mentioned, by all means, but putting everyone under surveillance? That doesn't feel very much like a free country to me.

[Fergal]

...I still feel it's an invasion of privacy for the law abiding majority...

If something was really private I wouldn't put it on a social networking site. It's not like they are coming into my home and searching through my stuff. The Internet is a public place. If it is being used to co-ordinate crime why should the government not keep an eye on it, to help protect the safety of the majority?

[scifi]

If something was really private I wouldn't put it on a social networking site.
Yeah Fergal, its a great point.. something personal should not be put on the soacial networking sites..But against as you know social networking sites are meant for interaction & communication with new people & friends too. It may be possible then that you will not be able to discuss as much in open as we have discussed about BUSH & others PRESIDENTS & Govt. OFFICIALS, policies..I think you get the point..;):D

[Nazreen]

You have a very good point there Fergal. If it's really private then we shouldn't put it on a social networking site. That's what I also do as a precaution whenever I want to upload or post anything on social networking sites. But then again, not all people are as wise or as cautious. I watched a news episode on Facebook a couple of months back and they interviewed a teenage girl who got expelled from her school because she posted pics of herself topless. She thought that it was cool at that time.

Again, I'm not saying that the teen is not in the wrong. What I'm trying to say is that people can be reckless and stupid at times.

[flashgordonweb]

Aren't they already doing this in a way? Google tracks everything, from the IP to the word you use, to how long you visit a site, etc. So does every other site, including the big social networks. Releasing this information to governments currently is illegal, the same as it is to tap a phone - you need a court order. However, that has not stopped the US. There is a giant complex in Florida that tracks every single phone call coming in and out of the US, and records the conversation based on if a keyword is said or not. I would not doubt it if they are already doing this to some extent for the web.

For me, I don't have anything to worry about, but I do not like "big brother" encroaching on my personal life. What really bothers me, however, is that it will probably be some bot based monitoring system. We all know how faulty bots are in keeping spam at bay, how can we know that these bots won't flag something that does not need to be flagged.

[Fergal]

...how can we know that these bots won't flag something that does not need to be flagged.

That's certainly a concern, I wouldn't like to end up on a "suspect list" or worse, because a bot made a mistake.

You also make a good point re Google. Anyone can use Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) to get alerts when certain content is posted on the web. It would be naive to think that the US government doesn't have something much more sophisticated.

Nazreen, I suppose it depends on her age, but I'd imagine the girl you spoke of needed help and support not expulsion from school, so it may be a good example of surveillance going to far.