Civil Liberties - Tap, tap...tap, tap...
WORKERS, DEC 2007 ISSUE
In early October an extension to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 was introduced. All details of phone records from landlines and mobiles have now to be retained by telecommunications companies for a minimum of 12 months and can be handed over without opposition to the police and to central and local government officials plus a further 650 public bodies and quangos. This changes the original requirement that companies should voluntarily retain and forward the information – they must comply.
Farcically, the Home Office denies that the contents of texts or messages will be read, and maintains that it is only where the call was made from and to whom that will be recorded. Recording where the call was made from effectively means that mobile phones will be used as tracker devices for individuals.
And of course the change is justified by the ongoing war on terror – even though the legislation was introduced before the September 2001 bombings in New York and the official declaration of the "War on Terrorism".
Of course, the legislation does meet the requirements of an EU Directive on retention of phone data. So that's OK!