More and more it seems to be the case that privacy just doesn’t matter to Governments anymore. It’s becoming a sad state of affairs in the UK now as well.
I was just reading an article on slashdot after being linked to it on IRC. And I have to say I’m frankly appalled that anything like this could even be passed as a viable and privacy respecting piece of legislation. Basically it says something along the lines of:
UK Police, in collaboration with other EU authorities will have the power to remotely search people’s PC’s to find evidence et al. All without a warrant.
Wait…I’m sorry what? So apparently, as a UK citizen I’m supposed to sit here and have some random people hack into my network and have a snoop around my PC for any evidence. Now I’m assuming this would only be if you’re suspected of a crime, but either way it’s not ethically right to be permitted to do this. It’s equivilant to me thinking “Oh hey, I think that car might be fun to drive” and promptly walking into a showroom, and stealing it, then (possibly) bringing it back later (possibly) intact.
It just seems to me that the UK is becoming more and more of a Nanny/Police/Health & Safety Obsessed/Big Brother state, and I’m getting increasingly frustrated with it. I wouldn’t want to have to move abroad just because of some quite frankly idiotic policies, but if it comes to that, it’s something I’d have to do. I don’t want to be living in a real world 1984 (the book)/Orwellian nation .
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m pretty much 99% opposed to this, but if anybody can provide a good counter argument as to why this should ever be permitted…I’d love to hear it 
2 Other Sources:
Slashdot Article
Times Online Article
#1 by Colin on January 5th, 2009
For good arguments against this, you may read
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/05/the_value_of_pr.html
(for more articles on this subject by Bruce Schneier, google “schneier privacy”)
#2 by Jo Shields on January 5th, 2009
The same defense as always applies to this particular erosion of civil liberties – “won’t SOMEBODY think of the children!
”
#3 by Flimm on January 5th, 2009
Privacy is already becoming a thing of the past, not because of legislation like this, but because of the Internet, and things like Facebook, which people in their masses have been using, sacrificing their privacy along with it. The more we willingly upload to the Internet, the more governments will think that privacy doesn’t really matter anymore.
Those who opt out are already suspected of immoral or illegal things, otherwise, ‘why would they be hiding’? For example, privacy features in browsers are nearly always assumed to be for those who view (possibly child) pornography.
#4 by oliver on January 5th, 2009
Yup, in Germany the police now also has permission to remotely hack into PCs and spy for evidence. It needs a warrant but apparently it’s not really difficult to get that.
Btw. Mr. Schaeuble who pushed this law made the remark that people already willingly present intimate details on the net anyway, so citizens wouldn’t be concerned about privacy anyway (this echoes Flimms comment). I still wonder how that holds up for those people who don’t publish all these details – they (we) still have to suffer from the gov’t spying on us.
#5 by ethana2 on January 5th, 2009
UK Police, in collaboration with other EU authorities will have the power to remotely search people’s PC’s to find evidence et al. All without a warranty.
Let them TRY
Ubuntu Inside.
Suckers.
#6 by Jared Spurbeck on January 5th, 2009
You mean “without a warrant,” not “without a warranty!” The latter implies that they can go on doing this after the support contract on their PCs expires, which is amusing but not quite insidious. ^.^
#7 by Joeb454 on January 5th, 2009
Haha…oops, fixed that now, thanks Jared
#8 by Bruce Cowan on January 5th, 2009
Saying as I live in Scotland, I just hoped all this would go away thanks to independence. Now that Gordon “saved the World”, people up here will cry home to Labour again.
#9 by Tom Mann on January 5th, 2009
Sadly this has been this way for a while now – even worse is under the RIP laws (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) they can demand passwords and/or private keys to access your data.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_Investigatory_Powers_Act
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/oct/24/qanda
It’s already happened.
#10 by Yann on January 6th, 2009
Oh, so I am not the only one to think that “Health and safety” is just being ridiculous in this country and is just an excuse to shut down the people you don’t like – that’s reassuring
#11 by Russ on January 6th, 2009
Just remember, it all started when they took your guns away.
#12 by Wolfger on January 6th, 2009
It seems to be the same story all over the world… It’s governments against the people, instead of for them. It’s deplorable, but government has all the guns, so what can you do?
#13 by Nixie on January 6th, 2009
Speaking for the US, nearly 2/3 of my country has been ruled a “Constitution Free Zone.” (by the ACLU)
“The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This includes most of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.”
I’m not quite sure how it is in the UK, but as a US citizen it is depressing for me to dwell on what privacy I’ve lost, so I’ve grown to enjoy the freedoms I do have, like the lack of censorship in media and other sources.
It should never have to be this way.
#14 by FreddyMartinez on January 6th, 2009
Just because more and more data is accessible in the world doesn’t mean anything. I could put all of my information of Facebook or not but ultimately that should be a *my* choice. *I* get to chose what how to control my privacy and how I make that choice shouldn’t give cause to the government to not respect my choice. Even if everyone in the US decided they would rather not have guns doesn’t mean the government should make them illegal.
#15 by Michael White on January 8th, 2009
The UK is much worse with privacy issues. There would be a huge uproar in the US if the police were to be given this power today.
#16 by Joeb454 on January 9th, 2009
Sorry for the delay in approving your comment, I got the email when I was out, guess I forgot when I got home.
I have to agree though, the UK don’t seem to respect privacy anymore, it’s quite a sad state of affairs
#17 by JoshuaRL on January 10th, 2009
I read an interesting article on that from Ars:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-constable-hax0r-loose-in-the-uk-well-yes-and-no.html
Also, I’m not sure if you have access to the CSS or HTML of your blog, but I can’t read anything I type in the info or comments field because of my dark XFCE theme. I know, more my issue than yours, but I found it kinda funny.
#18 by matt on January 10th, 2009
Wow, where to start with this.
First and foremost, if “hacking” is illegal to the general population, it should also be illegal without a specific government waiver to this policy as directed by a judge (ie: a warrant). Otherwise, “word of mouth” or bias comes greatly into play and people an abuse this power.
Additionally, i’m curious as to what their “hacking” capabilities are… Is “cracking” accepted? What if it crosses into the Denial of Service category? Ultimately, they’re using your bandwidth without your consent (or at your cost, if you pay for it per unit). How do they differentiate between computers on a network (Mom might be under investigation and her desktop is the target, but Dad is actually hacked). Moreover, what are the restrictions on tampering with evidence? Data could EASILY be planted and logs spoofed to match this. This article raises a lot more questions than anything.
I like the “Ubuntu Inside” comment. Unfortunately, there may also be an exploit available for the FTPd that you run, or someone on your network didn’t properly configure their SMB shares, or… just because you use Linux doesn’t mean you’re safe. That attitude scares me ust as much as the power granted to the Government in this situation (and I am from the United States).
I’d like any feedback I can get on these comments…
#19 by Joeb454 on January 11th, 2009
JoshuaRL, get a better theme dude
haha. No seriously though, I don’t have access to the HTML/CSS, sorry.
And matt, I’d be interested in knowing what their capabilites are too. And I fully agree, the article raises hundreds more questions than anything. (Like, um…why is this even permitted????).
To me I think a lot of it might be talk and simple scare tactics, but I can’t rule out the possibility that they *could* do it. At the end of the day, I have nothing to hide, but if I ever found out that they had accessed my PC, I’d go absolutely psycho and demand to know why…I’d give them hell