British Official Says Government, Police Need More Information To Protect Public

The BBC reports that the British Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, believes that law enforcement needs the power to monitor or otherwise obtain information on suspects, including terrorists, and much of that information might be held by communications and internet companies. The reaction from the opposition and from civil rights groups has been swift and critical. They warn of massive databases compiled by the government that might infringe on the public’s privacy and human rights. Ms. Smith tried to mollify the critics by saying, “There are no plans for an enormous database which will contain the content of your emails, the texts that you send or the chats you have on the phone or online. Nor are we going to give local authorities the power to trawl through such a database in the interest of investigating lower level criminality under the spurious cover of counter terrorist legislation.” But the Shadow Home Secretary responded, “These proposals would mark a substantial shift in the powers of the state to obtain personal information on individuals….The government must present convincing justification for such an exponential increase in the powers of the state.”