Laughable Big Brother

Continuing along with the theme of

Cutting off your nose to spite your face

the UK government wishes to extend the reach of the US “intelligence” services by making a nice big database of everyone’s phone calls, text messsages, emails and web page browsing history.  The WebUser website picked up on this story. Fortunately, Seagate has just released a nice big 1.5TB hard drive, several thousand of which will be needed to store Auntie Mabel’s M&S flower order as well as Osima’s gelignite order.

Apparently, this will enable the “security” services to catch criminals and prosecute them easier…  (c.f. my daughter’s observation in Bristol that only warnings are issued for knife carrying and you have to be nearly dead before the coppers do anything pro-active)

Co-incidentally, in the same week, your average UK punter’s confidence in the government’s or any public or private organisation’s ability to look after all this extra data is at an all-time low.  ITPro has pulled out this gem from the ether – or gone down the pub and asked.  I suppose the 25 million child benefit records had something to do with it!

Co-incidentally, on the same day, our security concious MPs have voted away all rights of a defendant to see their accuser, something that we’ve had since 1415AD. Witness anonymity bill is passed trumpeted the BBC.  The humorously titled but wickedly incisive Postman Patel has a full summary of the who said whats and implications here.

This means that soon, the security services will be able to get evidence against you by cutting and pasting a few messages together, (it’s not just photos that lie), then in court you won’t be able to see your accuser or cross-examine them because of “security concerns” before you are led away to finish the rest of your sentence which started 10 years earlier but you just sat in gaol on the nod of a stooge judge awaiting charge under a repeating 42 days without charge law which was passed last month.

Just wait until the Nazis or their equivalent get elected.  The dozy MPs and the UK plebs won’t know whats hit them.