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Britain Rules Out Database Of Phone, Email Records

Posted on: Monday, 27 April 2009, 13:49 CDT

Britain’s Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Monday that the government wants telecom firms and Internet service providers to maintain records of every e-mail, phone call and Web site visit made in the country.

However, the government has backed away from plans to establish a national database of such information, a proposal that was harshly criticized by civil liberties group as a "Big Brother"-like invasion of privacy.

Last October, the British government said it was considering the establishment of a central database of all phone and Internet traffic as part of a high-tech strategy to combat crime and terrorism.

But Secretary Smith said that plan had now been abandoned.

A document describing the department's proposals said the government "recognizes the privacy implications" of a national database and "does not propose to pursue this approach."

The document said the government was instead supporting a "middle way" in which service providers would store and organize information on every individual's phone calls and Internet traffic so that it could be readily accessed by police and other authorities upon request.

The new system would cost an estimated $3 billion.

Under existing law, British ISPs are already required to store records of Web and e-mail traffic for one year. 

However, the new proposals expand these requirements, and would mandate service providers to keep details of communications that originated in other countries but passed through British networks.  This would include, for example, someone in Britain who accessed a U.S.-based e-mail account.

The industry group Internet Service Providers Association said the companies being required to retain such data would seek compensation for their costs in implementing the plan.

Secretary general Nicholas Lansman said the group would hold meetings with the Home Office to discuss the proposal.

According to the government, providers would not be required to store the content of e-mails, calls or Internet use, but rather they would retain details of times, dates, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and Web site URLs.

Smith said officials sought to achieve "a delicate balance between privacy and security," but was adamant that police and intelligence agencies need additional tools to fight crime and terrorism in an increasingly complex online world.

"Advances in communications mean that there are ever more sophisticated ways to communicate and we need to ensure that we keep up with the technology being used by those who would seek to do us harm," an AP report quoted Smith as saying.

The government is seeking public comment on the proposals until July, and broad opposition is expected.

Chris Grayling, law-and-order spokesman for the opposition Conservatives, said the British government had "built a culture of surveillance" and should scale back its plans.

"Too many parts of government have too many powers to snoop on innocent people and that's really got to change," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.

According to the British government, stringent safeguards would be put in place to limit that could access the information.  However, critics say that local authorities have abused existing surveillance powers, using them instead to investigate minor and trivial offenses such as failing to clean up dog mess or littering.

The criticism led the government in December to say it would clamp down on any abuse of the nation’s surveillance laws.

A series of lost data incidents has also eroded public trust in the government in recent months.  In November, the government misplaced a disk that contained the names, addresses and bank account details of some 25 million people.

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On the Net:

• Internet Service Providers Association

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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