timezone
08-10-2008, 12:47 AM
There’s no hiding place as spy HQ plans to see all
Intelligence chiefs want access to all communications made in the UK, but they face a fight David Leppard
Every call you make, every e-mail you send, every website you visit - I’ll be watching you.
That is the hope of Sir David Pepper who, as the director of GCHQ, the government’s secret eavesdropping agency in Cheltenham, is plotting the biggest surveillance system ever created in Britain.
From his office in the agency’s famous “doughnut” building, Pepper is masterminding an innocent-sounding project called the Interception Modernisation Programme.
The scope of the project - classified top secret - is said by officials to be so vast that it will dwarf the estimated £5 billion ministers have set aside for the identity cards programme. It is intended to fight terrorism and crime. Civil liberties groups, however, say it poses an unprecedented intrusion into ordinary citizens’ lives.
Aimed at placing a “live tap” on every electronic communication in Britain, it will dwarf other “big brother” surveillance projects such as the number plate recognition system and the spread of CCTV.
Pepper and his opposite number at MI6, Sir John Scarlett, are facing opposition from mandarins in the Treasury and Cabinet Office who fear both its cost and ethical implications.
The spy bosses say a central database is essential to “capture” the array of communications between terrorists planning to attack Britain. Draft e-mails, chatroom discussions and internet browsing on encrypted jihadist websites are the preferred forums for Al-Qaeda cells to plan their attacks, they say. However, other officials and many in the business and academic community are wary.
A spokesman for the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, said yesterday that this summer he had called for a public debate about government proposals for the state to retain people’s internet and phone records.
“The commissioner warned that it is likely that such a scheme would be a step too far for the British way of life. Proposals that threaten such intrusion into people’s lives must be properly debated,” the spokesman said.
Despite the lack of public debate, Pepper’s officials have been aggressively marketing his plans in a round of White-hall briefings over the past few weeks.
One of their charts depicts a steep upward line showing the amount of electronic communications data that are being “captured” in the databases of hundreds of private telephone companies and internet service providers. But future projections show a sharp fall in the amount of communications data firms can, or are willing to, retain.
If this information is not centrally stored, it will disappear, making it impossible for police and intelligence agents to reconstruct the history of so-called “friendship trees” between members of terrorist cells.
The sheer scale of electronic communications today is mind-boggling. Last year 57 billion text messages were sent in the UK, up from 1 billion in 1999. The number of broadband internet connections has grown from just 330,000 in 2001 to 18m in 2007. And each day 3 billion e-mails are sent - 35,000 every second. Somewhere in that mass of data, terrorists are communicating with each other about their next attack.
At the moment the data are spread across temporary storage sites held by hundreds of private firms. To agents and police trying to detect or reconstruct what MI5 calls terrorist “attack planning”, it’s like looking for a needle in a million haystacks.
But there are mounting concerns at the Treasury about the costs of Pepper’s project. According to Richard Clayton, a security expert at Cambridge University, the system will require the insertion of “thousands” of black box probes into the country’s computer and telephone networks.
Known as Deep Packet Inspection equipment, these probes will “steal” the data, analyse and decode the information and then route it direct to a government-run database.
No one yet knows exactly how to ensure police and intelligence agencies do not abuse their access to the database.
The law on surveillance
United Kingdom Telephone and internet companies must give details of calls or web use to law enforcement agencies if a senior officer certifies that it is needed for an investigation. Last year 520,000 such requests were made. Interception may be authorised for 653 public bodies. For the security services, a minister must give approval; for the police, a chief constable.
United States The government requires a special order approved by FBI officials to demand data on telephone calls and internet use. To intercept communications it needs a court order. If there is a threat to national security, emergency wiretaps can be used for a week.
The 20 year old IT world known as the web has now grown to such proportions that it threatens to encompass in everything we say and do .
Universal suffrage was once an ideal. Now we approach universal surveillance, and are trapped as helpless as flies in a spider;s web. Ecrazez l'infame
Richard Harvey, Salisbury, Wilts
Even with all this intelligence they gather I doubt whether the end will justify the means or cost.
peter, worthing,
Also the government should open every item of post, read it, copy it and log it. (sarcasm)
I think what is worrying here, is not only what is being suggested, but that it is being suggested, being considered, and the gov't's only concern is finances.
Richard Harvey, Salisbury, Wilts
Even with all this intelligence they gather I doubt whether the end will justify the means or cost.
peter, worthing,
Also the government should open every item of post, read it, copy it and log it. (sarcasm)
I think what is worrying here, is not only what is being suggested, but that it is being suggested, being considered, and the gov't's only concern is finances.
James, Ilford, United Kingdom
Big Brother Britain.
It's here... and the sheep sit docile.
gg, BHam, UK
Maybe instead of one large demonstration in London where many would find it difficult also costly to get there. The demonstrations shuld be organised at a few large towns making it easier to get the masses out.
Florence, Manchester, UK
Didnt we all hear the baloney "we need it for terrorism" when Labour wanted to bring in RIPA Act year ago and now RIPA is used by Councils to find owners of dogs who foul the pavement ?. Yes we did, and what Labour now again say cannot be believed. This new Act/Law will be used by Councils as well
hank, moscow, uk
Like other so called "terrorism-fight"-tools, this will eventually be used by local council-officials, HMRC, the DVLA, the NHS and to catch TV-license dodgers... I am about to leave the country...
Mike, Birmingham, UK
When will these idiots get it through their heads that Orwell's 1984 is not a how-to manual for good government?
Rowan, Hereford,
In answer to Sherry of Roanoke:
The current mentality in Britain means you could build concentration camps and they'd do nothing. This is not the generation that fought for freedom.
Mind you, your country imposes biometric discrimination at its borders which prevents free travel to people like me.
clint, Liverpool,
Terrorists use throway mobiles so this is to be used to build up a blackmail database on ordinary people who might one day protest. Use the post. They haven't managed yet to price our postal service out of existence ...yet. George Smiley useed a clean sheet of paper and a fountain pen.
ian, derby,
As with all Big Brother schemes, there will always be ways to circumvent observation. The simplest would involve the use of really simple code, replacing suspect words and phrases with innocent looking replacements. Then there are proxy services. Human Intelligence is where the money should be spent
Andy P, Swindon,
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fear the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
I think our government are aiming to instill the former.
Peter Grant, Enfield, UK
I agree the state needs a capability to intercept communications to tackle serious crime and it must keep pace with technological progress.
Democratic or judicial oversight of these powers’ use is essential.
The system proposed appears disproportionate to requirements.
Richard Taylor, Cambridge, UK
Any smart terrorist wont send emails. They will use some sort of connection that doesnt log on line chats. For example playing a game on line, you can setup your own private multi player game password protected. This proposed system is a diabolical infringement of just about everything we stand for
Will, Edinburgh, UK
What is wrong with you? You should be rioting the streets!!!
CCTV came and you did nothing. Now this. What's next? Why are you allowing them to get away with this?
sherry, Roanoke, USA
This is plainly unacceptable. And most probably in breach of Article 8 (on privacy rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
If we, the people, don't publicly protest (peacefully) in opposition to this police state...
How does November 5th sound for a date for (peaceful) public protest?
Intelligence chiefs want access to all communications made in the UK, but they face a fight David Leppard
Every call you make, every e-mail you send, every website you visit - I’ll be watching you.
That is the hope of Sir David Pepper who, as the director of GCHQ, the government’s secret eavesdropping agency in Cheltenham, is plotting the biggest surveillance system ever created in Britain.
From his office in the agency’s famous “doughnut” building, Pepper is masterminding an innocent-sounding project called the Interception Modernisation Programme.
The scope of the project - classified top secret - is said by officials to be so vast that it will dwarf the estimated £5 billion ministers have set aside for the identity cards programme. It is intended to fight terrorism and crime. Civil liberties groups, however, say it poses an unprecedented intrusion into ordinary citizens’ lives.
Aimed at placing a “live tap” on every electronic communication in Britain, it will dwarf other “big brother” surveillance projects such as the number plate recognition system and the spread of CCTV.
Pepper and his opposite number at MI6, Sir John Scarlett, are facing opposition from mandarins in the Treasury and Cabinet Office who fear both its cost and ethical implications.
The spy bosses say a central database is essential to “capture” the array of communications between terrorists planning to attack Britain. Draft e-mails, chatroom discussions and internet browsing on encrypted jihadist websites are the preferred forums for Al-Qaeda cells to plan their attacks, they say. However, other officials and many in the business and academic community are wary.
A spokesman for the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, said yesterday that this summer he had called for a public debate about government proposals for the state to retain people’s internet and phone records.
“The commissioner warned that it is likely that such a scheme would be a step too far for the British way of life. Proposals that threaten such intrusion into people’s lives must be properly debated,” the spokesman said.
Despite the lack of public debate, Pepper’s officials have been aggressively marketing his plans in a round of White-hall briefings over the past few weeks.
One of their charts depicts a steep upward line showing the amount of electronic communications data that are being “captured” in the databases of hundreds of private telephone companies and internet service providers. But future projections show a sharp fall in the amount of communications data firms can, or are willing to, retain.
If this information is not centrally stored, it will disappear, making it impossible for police and intelligence agents to reconstruct the history of so-called “friendship trees” between members of terrorist cells.
The sheer scale of electronic communications today is mind-boggling. Last year 57 billion text messages were sent in the UK, up from 1 billion in 1999. The number of broadband internet connections has grown from just 330,000 in 2001 to 18m in 2007. And each day 3 billion e-mails are sent - 35,000 every second. Somewhere in that mass of data, terrorists are communicating with each other about their next attack.
At the moment the data are spread across temporary storage sites held by hundreds of private firms. To agents and police trying to detect or reconstruct what MI5 calls terrorist “attack planning”, it’s like looking for a needle in a million haystacks.
But there are mounting concerns at the Treasury about the costs of Pepper’s project. According to Richard Clayton, a security expert at Cambridge University, the system will require the insertion of “thousands” of black box probes into the country’s computer and telephone networks.
Known as Deep Packet Inspection equipment, these probes will “steal” the data, analyse and decode the information and then route it direct to a government-run database.
No one yet knows exactly how to ensure police and intelligence agencies do not abuse their access to the database.
The law on surveillance
United Kingdom Telephone and internet companies must give details of calls or web use to law enforcement agencies if a senior officer certifies that it is needed for an investigation. Last year 520,000 such requests were made. Interception may be authorised for 653 public bodies. For the security services, a minister must give approval; for the police, a chief constable.
United States The government requires a special order approved by FBI officials to demand data on telephone calls and internet use. To intercept communications it needs a court order. If there is a threat to national security, emergency wiretaps can be used for a week.
The 20 year old IT world known as the web has now grown to such proportions that it threatens to encompass in everything we say and do .
Universal suffrage was once an ideal. Now we approach universal surveillance, and are trapped as helpless as flies in a spider;s web. Ecrazez l'infame
Richard Harvey, Salisbury, Wilts
Even with all this intelligence they gather I doubt whether the end will justify the means or cost.
peter, worthing,
Also the government should open every item of post, read it, copy it and log it. (sarcasm)
I think what is worrying here, is not only what is being suggested, but that it is being suggested, being considered, and the gov't's only concern is finances.
Richard Harvey, Salisbury, Wilts
Even with all this intelligence they gather I doubt whether the end will justify the means or cost.
peter, worthing,
Also the government should open every item of post, read it, copy it and log it. (sarcasm)
I think what is worrying here, is not only what is being suggested, but that it is being suggested, being considered, and the gov't's only concern is finances.
James, Ilford, United Kingdom
Big Brother Britain.
It's here... and the sheep sit docile.
gg, BHam, UK
Maybe instead of one large demonstration in London where many would find it difficult also costly to get there. The demonstrations shuld be organised at a few large towns making it easier to get the masses out.
Florence, Manchester, UK
Didnt we all hear the baloney "we need it for terrorism" when Labour wanted to bring in RIPA Act year ago and now RIPA is used by Councils to find owners of dogs who foul the pavement ?. Yes we did, and what Labour now again say cannot be believed. This new Act/Law will be used by Councils as well
hank, moscow, uk
Like other so called "terrorism-fight"-tools, this will eventually be used by local council-officials, HMRC, the DVLA, the NHS and to catch TV-license dodgers... I am about to leave the country...
Mike, Birmingham, UK
When will these idiots get it through their heads that Orwell's 1984 is not a how-to manual for good government?
Rowan, Hereford,
In answer to Sherry of Roanoke:
The current mentality in Britain means you could build concentration camps and they'd do nothing. This is not the generation that fought for freedom.
Mind you, your country imposes biometric discrimination at its borders which prevents free travel to people like me.
clint, Liverpool,
Terrorists use throway mobiles so this is to be used to build up a blackmail database on ordinary people who might one day protest. Use the post. They haven't managed yet to price our postal service out of existence ...yet. George Smiley useed a clean sheet of paper and a fountain pen.
ian, derby,
As with all Big Brother schemes, there will always be ways to circumvent observation. The simplest would involve the use of really simple code, replacing suspect words and phrases with innocent looking replacements. Then there are proxy services. Human Intelligence is where the money should be spent
Andy P, Swindon,
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fear the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
I think our government are aiming to instill the former.
Peter Grant, Enfield, UK
I agree the state needs a capability to intercept communications to tackle serious crime and it must keep pace with technological progress.
Democratic or judicial oversight of these powers’ use is essential.
The system proposed appears disproportionate to requirements.
Richard Taylor, Cambridge, UK
Any smart terrorist wont send emails. They will use some sort of connection that doesnt log on line chats. For example playing a game on line, you can setup your own private multi player game password protected. This proposed system is a diabolical infringement of just about everything we stand for
Will, Edinburgh, UK
What is wrong with you? You should be rioting the streets!!!
CCTV came and you did nothing. Now this. What's next? Why are you allowing them to get away with this?
sherry, Roanoke, USA
This is plainly unacceptable. And most probably in breach of Article 8 (on privacy rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
If we, the people, don't publicly protest (peacefully) in opposition to this police state...
How does November 5th sound for a date for (peaceful) public protest?