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The truths they don't want you to read....

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Big Brother

A report in today's Times reveals that the Government plans to store a record of every phone call and email in the UK.

Under RIPA, this information will be available to a variety of public bodies, including, but not limited to the Police, MI5, MI6, The Inland Revenue, The Post Office, The Foods Standards Agency, The Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce and, of course, the Comhairle.

Suddenly all these bodies, and more, will be entitled to get access to your calls and emails if they suspect a crime or some misfeasance. Suspect being the key word.

You data will be kept entirely safe by the wonderful data managers in the Government, and there will be no prospect of the information being leaked. Ever. At all. My arse.

The 12 month time limit is a red herring, given that some investigations may take much, much, longer. So how long before the first request to extend this time 'due to an ongoing investigation'?

Tie this in with a possible National ID card, number plate recognition software and mobile phone records and the Government can track you everywhere at the press of a button; or more likely, fully automatically.

This actually gives the Government more power over it's citizens than those anti-democratic dictators in China; or that nasty, nasty, regime of Robert Mugabe. But don't worry, Gordon Brown wouldn't dream of allowing this information to be used for trivial purposes, or for imprisoning people without trial.

The sooner this lot of power-mad idiots are ousted the better.

(Declaration of interest: this might affect the information I am sent by email by various Council employees)


Anonymous said...

We'll all be safe, as long as all the terrorists, criminals and likeminded others don't use the postal service.

Anonymous said...

we don't actually, we much prefer the internet!;-)

Anonymous said...

Damn you master criminals!

Anonymous said...

The day the Comhairle gets access to my private correspondence is the day I will take my kids, my business and everything else and get on that ferry .

This public inquiry has shown what a totally corrupt shameless shower are in charge of the island, elected or otherwise they are an absolute embarrassment, and it reflects appallingly on us as a community that we are willing to put up with it.

Their track record in undermining local business albeit through 'legal' tendering, feathering their own nests - 'oh I have a construction company, fuel company, haulage company, directorship on some quango and stand to make a packet but of course that doesn't influence my decisions crud is an out an out scandal...

Tell me if senior councillors didn't have a vested interest in maintaining the high levels of fuel poverty, don't you think that we would have seen a lot more action on making communties fuel self-sufficient ? We don't need an interconnector for that do we ?

Anonymous said...

Expose politicians to the possibilities of technology as espoused by those who want to sell stuff, and this is the rubbish you get. As a selfish bastard in IT, I'm relishing the prospect that the men with the dosh believe that (a) you can capture all this stuff (b) you can actually make any sense of it once you've got it. As we fail at (a), and bleed the public purse in the process, we'll blame it on the previously undefined problems raised by (b). Then, at a yet-to-be-defined stage, we'll ensure a failure or leak so we can move into IT security consultancy.

Hey, it works for bankers.

Anonymous said...

This is actually driven by an EU directive, so it doesn't really matter which party is in charge of the provincial government at Westminster--the measures will go through regardless.

Anonymous said...

It comes of no surprise to many of us abroad that read this blog when entries are made moaning about the National government, Scottish Government and the local Council. they have a common problem.........

full of narrow minded control freaks of a Calvinist upbringing

Brown is a dead man walking, Salmon has got what he wants now - the prospect of a Tory Westminster who he can rally the Scots to fight and at long last the sleeping giant of England has awoken to the constant but stupid idea of an Independant Scotland and simply stated 'f off then and get on with it'.

Given the left of centre view of Scotland you can expect in an 'Independant' Scotland a lot lot more conrol of your lives.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8.57 am

Oh no! Can it be true, the English no longer want us. I’ll be worrying all day about that one.

Anonymous said...

Impossible to work practically. Every email? How? What about anonymous commenters? What about people who use Facebook or Flickr messaging, or comment through MySpace or Bebo? How about Tweets; are they going to read or even automatically scan every one? And whatever Web 2.0, 3.0 and semantic web services appear next.

Anonymous said...

8:47 Yes quite!:-) Ls

Anonymous said...

sorry that last comment was aimed at 9:21 - How does 8:57 define narrow minded control freaks - oh there the ones with a Calvinist upbringing - So what about Musillini Does he not come into the category because he was not narrow minded or not a control freak... or maybe his sunday school teacher was secretly a calvinist... another thing were their no narrow minded control freaks before calvin. Perhaps Calvin was just ahead of his time!

Anonymous said...


Sorry you make an assumption that I am English. I escaped the grasp of the Free Church in Back many years ago and live with the English - quite happily as they do not place nationality as any great priority in life unlike my ex neighbours in Lewis.

As I said the English have not been bothered by the Independance issue until they/we inherited Brown whom they like to Private Fraser in Dads Army or the Laird of Shaws in Kidnapped as typically Scottish pious and mean. That said it is surprising how many forget that Blair is a Scot albeit who wants to be English as would the English Rod Stewart like to be a Scot.

Any way you may find it glib to say you are not worrying but you overlook funding (and forget North Sea Oil - Scotland will have more chance of England surrendering the Isle of Whight then give away the oil) and the fact 50% of the Scottish nation work for the Government - you in Lewis must see that where so many work (I use the term loosely) for the Comhairle.

Lastly you forget that there are 6 million Scots living in England and as far as I can see they don't really care now whether or not Scotland has independance but like their English neighbours they are damned if they are going to pay for it.

You seem to be having your summer at present - nice.

Anonymous said...

1:36 PM


What’s wrong are you worried that you wouldn’t manage without us?