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The Government is... watching you on Facebook
25th March 2009

The Government has announced plans to monitor people's communications on social-networking sites.

The new proposals will see sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo compelled to retain information about people's contacts and surfing habits.

It's the latest in a set of draconian measures designed to tackle terrorism. The Government has already announced plans to store details of every phone call, email and internet visit made in the UK as part of its intercept modernisation programme.

Government minister Vernon Coaker says the Government needs to widen the net on internet surveillance. "Social networking sites, such as MySpace or Bebo, are not covered by the directive," he said, according to a report in The Independent.

"That is one reason why the Government are looking at what we should do about the intercept modernisation programme because there are certain aspects of communications which are not covered by the directive."

Coaker insists the content of messages sent via social-networks won't be monitored, but sites could be compelled to hold data about every person its users communicate with.

The move has met fierce opposition from the Liberal Democrats. "Plans to monitor our phone and email records threaten to be the most expensive snooper's charter in history," claims home affairs spokesman Tom Brake.

"It is deeply worrying that they now intend to monitor social-networking sites which contain very sensitive data like sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political views.

"Given the Government's disastrous record with large IT projects and data security, it is likely that data will leak out of every memory stick, port and disk drive when they start monitoring Facebook, Bebo and MySpace."

Facebook's chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, has described the proposals as "overkill" and plans to lobby the Government.

Source

I can hear Goerge Orwell saying...



I told you so.

It is scary how easily the US and UK governments are snatching liberties in the name of defence against terroism.

FF

never have and never will trust my government.

fuck them all......we have more surviellance in the uk than stalins russia or nazi germany.......but like them we do have a dictator...MUGABE BROWN the man who only listens to himself....sorry i use "man" in the loosest term....and remember that cell phones are even less secure unless you're blessed with owning one o them blackberry gizmo things which are reletively secure but still trackable.......rant over folks

I can only say one sentance, "NEW WORLD ORDER", the power of a higher archy. (I cant say the group, they are watching us! + I aint paranoid, just open your eyes, it is happening!)

Yes i read about this! a prison guard got sacked after he was found to have an "affiliation" with known robbers & such on his webpage,Is this the start of an 1984 type situation? .

its a fucking liberty, you willn't be able to shit soon with out them knowing about it.
Everything is monitered in the uk, and now with this google street view(sorry boner) its even worse.
They are all a bunch of crooks , most probably the biggest crimal orinization going, but they are allowed to do it by the laws, its all wrong.

We need to stand together, power in numbers, but its notlike it used to be when you could strike and all that.Now they have the riot police out on you.

Where's it gonna end, who can tell.

Not only is the govt watching you but so is your employer. My human resources logged on and found some nurses I work with talking about their jobs and they were fired. Also college admissions and furture employers, so be very careful what you put on there.