LSE attacks Government's snooping plans

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 17 Jun 2009 at 08:35

The Government's proposed powers to monitor every email, SMS and browsing session in the UK are impractical, claims the London School of Economics.

The Government claims the proposal is intended to give security services the power to investigate crimes in a changing digital landscape.

In the report the LSE Policy Engagement Network explains that the scheme will not work unless legislation is brought in to back up the technology. The public will also need to be convinced of the importance of the system if they are to accept a reduction in privacy, it suggests.

"This would lead to a tipping of the balance in favour of state power and away from communications privacy rights for the individual. In fact, the current policy environment already has incredibly weak privacy safeguards, and the Home Office is going some way to worsening the situation rather than improving it," warns the report.

The IMP is the latest attempt to bring investigative powers up to date. British ISPs have received more than £18 million in Government grants over the past five years for the installation of surveillance equipment.

There are already signs that such a system will be difficult for the Government to install, as it has abandoned plans to hold UK internet traffic history in a central database.