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New government legislation logs your emails
It may have passed by the mainstream media relatively quietly, but new powers introduced this week could have far reaching effects for millions of EU internet users, including every UK citizen who uses either the internet or a telephone as a means of communication.
For the first time ever internet service providers now have a legal duty to store your private information, such as web history and email traffic. They won’t be logging the content of the emails themselves or any actual telephone calls, but they will be able to record the times, dates and IP addresses of users, as well as private telephone numbers. Basically, they’ll know when you sent an email and who you sent it to; they just won’t know exactly what the email was about.
There’s an understandable amount of concern amongst UK citizens about the new laws as well as confusion over what will and won’t be recorded. The government has attempted to reassure citizens of the necessity of having such a database when it comes to monitoring and enforcing criminal activity, including terrorism. A home office spokesman said: “It is the Government’s priority to protect public safety and national security. That is why we are completing the implementation of this directive, which will bring the UK in line with our European counterparts.” The Home office also referenced publically sensitive cases in order to highlight the need for the database from a law enforcement perspective: “Without communications data, resolving crimes such as the Rhys Jones murder would be very difficult if not impossible.”
ISPs are being sent letters explaining the new laws and their role in them. Thierry Dieu of the European telecoms networks operators association said: “We regret that the legislation has been put through without real consultation with the players in the market.” The UK is the only country in the EU that is offering to cover all of the costs involved in retaining the data to the ISPs. Taxpayer’s money will be used to reimburse the massive cost of logging millions of people’s activities. This could reach into hundreds of thousands of pounds for each provider.
This follows news from a report from leading academics that eight out of ten of all UK databases managing public service “present serious dangers to privacy and should either be scrapped completely or face a major overhaul.” The report also noted that many of these databases could be classified as ‘illegal’ under current data protection and human rights laws.
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