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Nem
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2112
Location: England
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 Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:52 am Post subject: British homeoffice makes Nem sad. |
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| Quote: | THE Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant.
The move, which follows a decision by the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives “a coach and horses” through privacy laws.
The hacking is known as “remote searching”. It allows police or MI5 officers who may be hundreds of miles away to examine covertly the hard drive of someone’s PC at his home, office or hotel room.
Material gathered in this way includes the content of all e-mails, web-browsing habits and instant messaging.
Under the Brussels edict, police across the EU have been given the green light to expand the implementation of a rarely used power involving warrantless intrusive surveillance of private property. The strategy will allow French, German and other EU forces to ask British officers to hack into someone’s UK computer and pass over any material gleaned.
A remote search can be granted if a senior officer says he “believes” that it is “proportionate” and necessary to prevent or detect serious crime — defined as any offence attracting a jail sentence of more than three years. |
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5439604.ece
It strikes me anyone who wants to store really bad things will just encrypt them and store the keyfile seperately. This decision is incredibly poorly suited to the type of crime it's reported to go after, leaving the question as to what its true intent is *x-files music*
But seriously. Police officers can search you physically now, without stating a reason and without issue of a warrant - anywhere any time - and now this? God knows when/if we're ever going to get another election, the (unelected) Primeminister still hasn't called one. Am I the only one who's getting massive police state overtones from the way the UK is going lately?
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Tinu.
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 3660
Location: The land of dreams
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| Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:13 am Post subject: |
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Oh dear heaven - it's like 1984. 
Really, that's scary. I remember how much people freaked out here when they started phone-tapping. They still do a lot of things under the radar, but nowhere near this. At least not that I'm aware of.
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Tinalles
Site Admin
Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 1630
Location: Grand Forks
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| Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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British society has a strong tendency towards over-the-top surveillance. Just look at all the bazillions of cameras that monitor every public place and a lot of private ones in the country. And there was that lousy law a few years back requiring people to decrypt their data if the police ask.
That's one aspect of British society that I really don't like.
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Asa
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 3443
Location: Grammar Police HQ. Watch your language, I'm armed with the NYTimes Style Book AND Strunk and White!
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| Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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And like Nem pointed out, announcing this law automatically makes it obsolete. Anyone with anything bad before will beef up the security, that's all.
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firefly
Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 147
Location: Portugal
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| Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Tinu. wrote: | Oh dear heaven - it's like 1984.
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indeed
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Tyris
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 873
Location: Beneath a vast mound of curly hair
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| Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Asa wrote: | | And like Nem pointed out, announcing this law automatically makes it obsolete. Anyone with anything bad before will beef up the security, that's all. |
Hell, we don'thave anything bad and are still going to beef up security.
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CBB
Joined: 12 Apr 2008
Posts: 243
Location: Over there! *points*
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| Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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Safety versus Liberty: Liberty's been taking a beating lately, worldwide. The world is changing, and civil liberties are being left behind. Privacy is no longer passive-it must be actively protected.
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Allicat
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 1341
Location: Land of the troll.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:12 am Post subject: |
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I'm with Tyris, I have nothing to hide, but that doesn't make me feel any better. NOT happy.
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TheBritishInvasion
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 1846
Location: The couch
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:52 am Post subject: |
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They have a real special way of making us not feel safe in our own homes whilst claiming it's for our own protection.
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Miho
Joined: 11 Apr 2008
Posts: 429
Location: Wouldn't you like to know.
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| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, that's crazy...
I just can't believe that people can do this... well i guess the gov can, they're are pretty good at doing stuff like this. That would really freak me out though... I mean, i don't have things on my computer that are evil and whatnot, but it's still mine and i'm protective of it. If the government is willing to announce something like this, makes me wonder what they don't announce.
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