UK government to outsource Internet tracking

The UK Government is planning to get a private company to run its of every call, text, email and web site visit.

In a proposal from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith the task of collecting and maintaining the records would be given to a private firm in order to reduce costs. The proposal also suggests tough legal penalties if the data is misused according to a report in The Guardian.

However, the proposals have come in from strong criticism, not least from Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions.

“This database would be an unimaginable hell-house of personal private information,” he said.

“It would be a complete readout of every citizen's life in the most intimate and demeaning detail. No government of any colour is to be trusted with such a roadmap to our souls.”

The government is planning to build the database to help in criminal investigations. Currently service providers hold the details of their customers but the government has deemed this too inefficient and plans to spend £12bn on a new combined database.

“The tendency of the state to seek ever more powers of surveillance over its citizens may be driven by protective zeal. But the notion of total security is a paranoid fantasy which would destroy everything that makes living worthwhile,” Macdonald said.

“We must avoid surrendering our freedom as autonomous human beings to such an ugly future. We should make judgments that are compatible with our status as free people.”