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Britain’s Investigatory Powers Act Violates Privacy, Demands Back Door to Encryption

Published January 4, 2017 by Christopher di Armani Filed Under: Big Brother


In late November Britain’s Investigatory Powers Act 2016 became law. For many years the British government demanded information from telecommunications companies without legal basis.

Britain’s Home Secretary Theresa May admitted the British government has long abused section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 for this exact purpose.

The legal basis now exists but this law goes even further.

Technology companies now must inform the government of new products or services.  Sounds innocuous enough, right?

Technical Capability Notices (Clause 217 of the Bill) allow the government to impose requirements and obligations on technology companies.  Those requirements include hacking and decrypting your data, building back doors into encryption software.  The obligations include retaining your hacked data for one year.

Telecommunications companies must keep all internet connection records whenever the state demands. They must provide back doors to security and encryption software so all online activities of mere citizens may be intercepted, decrypted and monitored.

In other words the government can access the history of websites you visit, email you send and receive, your instant messages and personal information and read it all.  Your right to privacy no longer exists.

The trumpeted need for this intrusion is, of course, counter-terrorism.

It’s for your safety, your protection.  There is no oversight.  Oversight is not required.  No government would ever abuse such vast powers to invade your privacy, right?

With their claim that this intrusion of privacy is to better protect us, Brits must give up their privacy with a lame assurance of security.

This embodies Benjamin Franklin’s famous words.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock said this:

“[Home Secretary] Amber Rudd says the Investigatory Powers Act is world-leading legislation. She is right; it is one of the most extreme surveillance laws ever passed in a democracy. Its impact will be felt beyond the UK as other countries, including authoritarian regimes with poor human rights records, will use this law to justify their own intrusive surveillance regimes.

Although there are some improvements to oversight, the Bill will mean the police and intelligence agencies have unprecedented powers to surveil our private communications and Internet activity, whether or not we are suspected of a crime. Theresa May has finally got her snoopers’ charter and democracy in the UK is the worse for it.”

Governments the world over love Big Data.  Despots want to control it.  Democracies claim to protect us with it. Nobody, other than mere citizens, are concerned with the lack of oversight or accountability in legislation like this.

 

The length and breadth of who may demand your internet history is frightening.  This list is from Schedule 4 of the Act.

  • Metropolitan police force
  • City of London police force
  • Police forces maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996
  • Police Service of Scotland
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  • British Transport Police
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Author

  • Christopher di Armani
    Christopher di Armani

    Christopher di Armani is a freedom-loving Amazon bestselling author and current events commentator from Lytton, BC, Canada, who strives to awaken the passion for liberty inside every human being.

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Tags: encryption back door, George Orwell 1984, Investigatory Powers Act 2016, Open Rights Group, Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock, right to privacy

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