Archive for the ‘Big mad database’ Category
Government minister: we may still introduce the big, mad database
Written by The Voice on 17th July 2008 – 6:03 pmCoruscating criticism from the Information Commission of the idea of putting together a huge new database of all our emails, mobile calls and internet use hasn’t put Labour off the idea.
Instead government minister Lord West has told Parliament that, “it is very early days as to where we go on this.” In other words - we are still thinking about going ahead with this.
And therefore - we need to keep up the pressure on this issue. It’s very easy to write to your MP, and here again are our top four arguments you can use:
1. It would be a huge intrusion on our privacy and civil liberty.
2. It would present a massive risk of misuse - either hacking from the outside or abuse from staff on the inside.
3. It would involve spending millions on a big government IT project: now, what’s the chance that turns out to be a really really inefficient way of spending money?
4. If you’ve got that amount of money and IT expertise to deploy, is this really what you’d put top of your priorities for improving the country? Improving the NHS’s IT records would bring far more benefits (and save far more lives) for example.
To contact your MP visit www.writetothem.com and ask your MP to raise this issue with the Home Secretary. You can use the four points above as the basis of your email, but remember the more individual the message the better its impact.
You can also help spread the word by blogging about this campaign on your site and linking through to http://www.libdemvoice.org/category/database
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The Government wants to know who you’ve been speaking to
Written by Mark Pack on 14th July 2008 – 8:52 amIt looks like the Government’s plans to keep tabs on everyone’s mobile phone calls and email messages are moving on a little. As the BBC reports:
Government plans to collect more data on mobile phone calls and internet usage have been further criticised as an attack on civil liberties.
The government is considering a new system which will automatically retrieve communications information from a centralised database.
Liberal Democrat Norman Baker said it was another example of Britain’s “surveillance society”
The Home Office says intercepting data is vital to fight crime and terrorism.
At present, the police and intelligence agencies can ask telecommunication providers for information on phone calls made, texts sent and internet sites visited.
That request can be queried and might then go to the Interception Commissioner, and possibly even further to another watchdog.
But under the new proposals, that right will be removed…
Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, said while technology had moved on “apace”, the protections for the individual had not moved on in parallel.
“We have a situation where the balance of power between the state and the individual, which is a key determinate of how a democracy is functioning, has increasingly shifted towards the state as technology has improved,” he said.
He said his concerns about the draft bill would be shared by other MPs but the government would try to silence those opposed to the new law by accusing them of being “soft on terrorism”.
Of course, you don’t have to rely on Norman Baker to talk to your MP about this issue. You can contact them easily and quickly yourself (even if you don’t know who they are) via www.writetothem.com
Posted in Big mad database | 2 Comments »
LDV Campaign: stop the big, mad database
Written by The Voice on 4th June 2008 – 10:49 amYou may have seen the news that the Home Office is thinking of putting together a database of every phone call and email in the UK.
Well, don’t get angry - get campaigning! We’ve decided this is a good topic for The Voice’s first campaign, but a campaign is only as good as its participants, which is where you come in…
But first - why do we think it’s a barmy idea?
Here are our top four reasons:
1. It would be a huge intrusion on our privacy and civil liberty.
2. It would present a massive risk of misuse - either hacking from the outside or abuse from staff on the inside.
3. It would involve spending millions on a big government IT project: now, what’s the chance that turns out to be a really really inefficient way of spending money?
4. If you’ve got that amount of money and IT expertise to deploy, is this really what you’d put top of your priorities for improving the country? Improving the NHS’s IT records would bring far more benefits (and save far more lives) for example.
So what can you do about it?
a. Help refine the campaign’s message: have you got a better reason? can you word one of these more effectively? have you got some good evidence to illustrate any of these points? Just a post a comment and help improve the message. Oh, and how about giving us a good slogan too?
b. Contact your MP: just visit www.writetothem.com and ask your MP to raise this issue with the Home Secretary. You can use the four points above as the basis of your email, but remember the more individual the message the better its impact.
c. Blog about this campaign on your site and link through to http://www.libdemvoice.org/category/database and help spread the word.
Got any other ideas for spreading this campaign? Just pop a comment below and let us know.
To the barricades! (Or at least - to the keyboards!)
Posted in Big mad database, News | 23 Comments »
