Don't Fear The RIPA?

For once Jaqui Smith has shown some good judgement rather than leaving the TV remote control with her husband, although you might accuse her of conflict of interest. At the launch of a Government review of the Regulatory of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), she has called for Councils in England and Wales not to use surveillance powers to target minor offences.

For the avid readers of this blog, you will have spotted that I have mentioned such powers before and some refer to them as a 'Snoopers Charter' as wider powers are due to come in force soon. However, Councils have been accused of using the powers of RIPA to investigate such minor offences as dog-fouling, people putting their bin out on the wrong day and those who fib about their address in order to send their child to a better school.

I assume that Jaqui Smith might also be concerned that someone may actually film how often she actually uses her 'Primary Address' in future.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We have better (or worse) than 1 camera per 14 people in this country which is more than any other European country. Surveillance is a way of life but we are told the extra cameras in our streets are there to protect us from crimes and terrorism, and we are all for preventing another 7/7. The pity is that we did not, nor the attack at Glasgow Airport - but at least we had bird's eye views after the events.

It is disheartening to know then that Councils are using such powers to catch perpetrators of such minor offences. The problem is that Council people have certain jobs to do like collect money to balance the books so if a camera is handy they'll use it. To the rate payer, it's both comforting to know that these workers care about our money and exasperating at the misuse of crucial resources supposed to stop REAL crime, although as a dog owner, fouling is pretty heinous.

RIPA is meant to regulate the monitoring of emails, phone calls and internet use, covert surveillance, use of informants or undercover agents and access to electronic passwords or encryptions.

Think about this long and hard. Do we really think it is appropriate for anybody OTHER than security forces and police in this country to have the power to access to such personal data? Do we really think that Council workers will respect the privacy of those who are actually found to be committing no offences?

This is not a 'Snoopers Charter', this is downright stupid use of valuable resources. Council workers now have free use of security cameras to catch people parking illegally, using loading zones to stop and pop into the newsagent to get a paper, to drop off an invalide, if they overstay a parking meter, if they park in the wrong area or a wheel touches a line. We must be stark raving mad to let unqualified, often outsourced contractors to be able to redirect cameras for such offences which are merely used to collect more cash.

The issue at stake is more than our privacy. I accept there needs to be a balance between access to our private information and security. But are you seriously telling us that Council workers and similar job functions should have the power to surveil us with such wide ranging powers? Do you seriously think that they can be trusted with such private information? Then again we think Big Brother is entertainment.

As the famous Roman graffiti said (and forgive my translation capabilities), 'Who is watching the watchers'.

Big Brother Is Watching You - And It Ain't So Cool

Hot foot on my article yesterday on Google Street View, today there is an announcement that the Government may start watching conversations and information on sites like Facebook. It has been further suggested that the Government will start watching emails, texts and internet contacts.

It has branded a 'Snoopers' Charter' and this time it doesn't seem to be in line with the 'Way cool' philosophy of the seemingly philanthropic gestures made by Google. Should we now start being afraid?

Is this stepping too far into this nice new technology and spoiling the party or should we start getting getting all indignant and joining the prissy campaigners who tell us our privacy is being violated?

The Snoopers' Charter

The proposals by the Government are to keep user details on sites like Facebook. The home Office claims that the information may be vital in combating crime gangs and terrorists who 'might' use the sites. The idea follows a similar proposal to record every phone call, text and email and internet visit made in the UK. Ministers say at this stage they are only interested in user details and not conversations which may take place on sites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace.

The Government denies it is trying to intrude on people's personal lives and that they were merely trying to keep up with technology. A Home Office spokesman reiterated the view that there was no interest in the content of information but that the aim was to be able to collect communication data for law enforcement agencies to use to gather evidence and prevent things like terrorism. The same same spokesman confirmed the proposal for recording the content of emails, phone calls and texts - again saying the content of the conversations was not the target.

Home Office Minister, Vernon Croaker, whose name sounds straight out of gangland, confirmed the Government was aiming to act on social networks as they were not covered by EU legislation. He acknowledged that it would raise fresh concerns about the right to privacy and acknowledged it was 'an extremely difficult area'.

The Reaction

Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer, for indeed they have one, Chris Kelly, said that the company was considering lobbying Ministers over the issue and described it as 'overkill'. Lib Dem MP, the appropriately named Tom Brake, pointed out the websites contained sensitive personal data which could easily leak from any Government-controlled database. Pointing out the extended proposals on monitoring emails, phone calls, texts and internet visits, he branded it as 'The most expensive Snoopers Charter in history' He also pointed out that information like people's sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political views could be monitored.

A View From The Public

Yesterday, I suggested that maybe we should lighten up about Google's aims with Street View where cameras could give people looking at Google Maps the opportunity to have a quick look at the cities they may be visiting or just looking out of interest. Already Street View had received a complaint via the Information Commission (ICO) that over 200 people had been identified in the pictures causing 'embarrassment and damage' with one woman identified after she had moved house to get away from a violent partner - she was seen outside her new home.

We generally agree that Google's intentions are just to be 'way cool' and have clever and neat gadgets and applications which lighten up our lives, are helpful and make life more interesting. If they make a few bucks at the same time, so what. The same could be said of sites like You Tube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Bebo, MySpace and the plethora of social networks that exist. In general. it is all just good fun, hip and fashionable. The abuses tend to be minimal but there have been definite instances where embarrassing or possibly sinister scenes have resulted in people getting into trouble or fired at work.

The famous sporting phrase 'What goes on on tour, stays on tour' has been replaced by 'What goes on tour, goes on Facebook.'

Now the Government has stepped in and could be ready to urinate on the fun. The Government has many ways of recording who exists in Britain, from births to deaths, immigration records to electoral roles, bank accounts, tax records, school attendances - you name it, our information should be there and pretty much in plain view. So delving into social networking sites on the face of it seems like overkill.

The threat of gang crime and terrorism is very real. However, I would argue very strongly that just by knowing someone's social networking handle and profile information you are hardly likely to spot that Osama Bin Ladin has a Facebook profile and invites members to join him on his cause. I don't think it is likely that he has a Twitter handle and his latest 'tweet' says he is 'cleaning the cave and doing a little scheming before lunch'.

I would argue that if terrorists do use Facebook and the likes then they possibly use handles so that they are less conspicuous but then again I don't have a criminal brain. I would suggest that the only way to spot criminals and terrorists on such sites, on the internet in general, via emails, texts and phone calls is to monitor their conversations and try to look for keywords, phrases or coded messages in their content. Much else would be pointless - unless indeed it was a good excuse to gather information on innocent people and filter the information for other uses like how to tax us more or find out our personal information for monitoring purposes.

The obvious conclusion would be the first thing the Government would do is to take a look at all people who are Muslim. The theory goes, you see, that not all Muslim are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims - so all you have to do is drill down. That has a minor flaw - recently the Continuity and Real IRA were implicated in a repeat of Sectarian violence in Northern Ireland - so you would have to include Catholics as well.

You see where I am going with this - already there are profound implications about our sensitive data without even trying to think of the wider possibilities.

The Future

I don't think this is about tracking people on Facebook whose profile says their hobby is drug dealing or organising false identities for terrorists - I presume if they were that open they would have an entry in the Yellow Pages. This is about another mechanism and possibly an excuse to pry into people's lives.

Britain leads they way with over 1 camera per 14 people monitoring us - higher than any other European country. So far it has not really helped to reduce crime or stop events such as 7/7 even though the terrorists were clearly seen entering Luton and Kings Cross Stations.

Already we have seen Councils win the right to turn security cameras in city centres to use to track people who park illegally. We use a good proportion of the cameras to catch people speeding rather than find people who steal cars or drive illegally. My point is that once you have carte blanche to access the information, what you do with it has endless opportunities and usually, crime solving, terrorist prevention and personal safety may be the given reason initially but actually are way down the agenda.

On the other hand, crime perpetrated on and via the internet is fast rising. Our identities, personal information, habits and most sensitive data like credit cards and PINs are regularly passed around the web. Identity cloning is becoming too easy and the criminals are far too nerdy to be foxed by security systems and protection provided to companies and individuals on the web. Ebay has been a classic area for crime with spoofs in London alone in 2006 were running at over £1m per week just on car sales.

It is a short hop to believe that terrorists are using the ability to mask their true identity and communicate via the internet to coordinate their efforts - after all we regularly round up people for nights out or birthday parties in pretty much the same way.

Vernon Croaker at the Home Office is not wrong in saying that it is a very sensitive area. It is why individuals should be well appraised of the motives and reasons why such data is needed and more importantly how it will be stored, segmented and used for the future.

The big question will always be - if it starts at the Government and law enforcement having access to the data today, which other agencies will have access to the data tomorrow?

If a Government can pluck a document off the web written by a 21 year old student and use it to persuade us that we need to invade a country then we need to be healthily cynical about what the Government is up to.

Our freedom and privacy is quietly being eroded and while we may think that technology like Google Street View and Facebook is 'Way cool' today, we may actually regret we accepted it with such open arms in the future - if we allow the Government to have its way.