If that last post doesn’t make you wonder if George Orwell only erred in the year he selected for his title, read on…
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. (Source-The Times Online)
If any of my readers would like advice on securing your computer and/or home network against unwanted intrusion or wiping your hard drive to military specifications, let me know in the comments. Without knowing what resources the governemt currently employ I can’t guarantee absolute security, but I’m willing to bet too many of you are making it far too easy for the government to snoop on your personal computer.
Any trace of even deleted porn, warez or pirated music and movies can be detected by means available to anyone, let alone the government. Even if you think you have nothing to hide, even if you seriously think this will help the police nab criminals or terrorists, you should still be concerned over the rapid loss of our rights to privacy. Soon they’ll be asking, nicely I’m sure, that everyone wear transponding devices (”we can make it look just like fashion jewellery!”) so that the government can know where you are and what you’re doing 24/7. What better way to make sure those rotten criminals and terrorists don’t bother you anymore.
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