Privacy is something you don't know you have until you lose it. Unfortunately, the Internet has gone from the world's greatest communication and knowledge spreading platform to the best surveillance tool ever invented.
According to The Independent, UK police may soon be granted the power to view the web browsing history of everyone in the country. The alleged bill would require communication companies to retain all web browsing history of its customers for 12 months in case the police or spy agencies want access. The article claims that the police will still need to go through some type of judicial process to obtain the data.
A user's Internet search history may be very useful for law enforcement. For example, in the United States, it appears that in the infamous disappearance of Caylee Anthony the police may have forgotten to check all of the Internet browsing history of a computer that was searched. If all of the browsing history of the computer that was checked was readily accessible in one dashboard would it have changed the outcome of the case?
This potential new UK law is very troubling. Will phone companies soon be required to tape record every phone call that is made? Will people soon be required to tape record every personal voice conversation and keep a physical copy of every pen and paper interaction they have? Will librarians soon be required to track every request by every user and keep it on file for 12 months?
The potential for abuse is tremendous. Will one be prosecuted for just doing an Internet search about a topic? Who will have access to it? Will the proper cyber security and privacy safeguards be implemented to protect the data? What happens when multiple people utilize a device? Will everyone eventually be forced to have their own Internet ID # to track everything they do online? How much compensation will one be able to obtain after their browsing history is illegally leaked to the media? These are just some of the many questions that need to be answered.
Unfortunately, it sounds as though George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four surveillance society is coming true in the U.K. Which country will be next?
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