THE Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant.
The move, which follows a decision by the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives “a coach and horses” through privacy laws.
The hacking is known as “remote searching”. It allows police or MI5 officers who may be hundreds of miles away to examine covertly the hard drive of someone’s PC at his home, office or hotel room.
Under the Brussels edict, police across the EU have been given the green light to expand the implementation of a rarely used power involving warrantless intrusive surveillance of private property. The strategy will allow French, German and other EU forces to ask British officers to hack into someone’s UK computer and pass over any material gleaned.
Excuse me, but this just plain sucks!
Easy, use truecrypt and switch off the router when not actively using it.
They get nada.
Cursor_
I feel proud to be British.
Seriously, unless you’re not behind a NAT router/firewall then you deserve to get ‘hacked’.
Since we’re following the EU’s lead, expect to see this in the US by 2010 at the latest.
Another of the endless posts ignoring the difference between “privacy rights” and a “desire of anonymity.”
Want to remain anonymous?==don’t enter the “WorldWideWeb.” Hint–WORLD WIDE is a clue.
0. hhopper: “Excuse me, but this just plain sucks!”
You mean compared to the 2 million Americans now in prison for violating our rights.
RBG
[2 million? I thought there were only six. – ed.]
Just how is this going to be implemented? An email with “Here, your EU tax refund. Click this link??”
In the usual way of things, the ignorant and innocent will be open but the “guilty” and the IT literate will be behind NAT, routers, firewalls and more.
Perhaps, this is part of a plot to make us British IT workers need licences – like Texas?
#5 – Bobo
So. You also support warrantless wiretapping and unauthorized opening of people’s Postal Service mail.
I should be safe with NAT and my firewall right? 🙁
I don’t want to hear from all the computer geeks* about encryption and the other techniques that can be used to circumvent a governments attempt to take away our freedom.
I am also sick of hearing the argument that we should just stay off the web and stop using email.
What the hell is wrong with you people? Have you no conception of what freedom is and is not?
Do you think these are small technical issues?
Do you think it can’t happen to you?
When it happens to you, do you think you’ll be able to clear it up by just telling them that they made a mistake, and that you’re really a good guy? It will ruin your life!
Stop being smartasses. Generate some righteous outrage!
* I can use the term “geek” because I am one.
George Orwell was an optimist.
Are people outside of the internet making a stink about this?
Wow… I’m surprised how many people there are with things they want to hide!
If you don’t want ‘the man’ to know about you – stop using Google, stop using your mobile phone, stop using your supermarket loyalty card, stop watching TV and just to be safe – stay in bed.
The gov’t will issue us all “approved” routers and ban the use of firewalls.
What software are they using???
GetReal said it all.
lock_down said: I feel proud to be British.
Me too …. but more because I am worried about what they will do to me if I am not. 😀 😀 😀
Well, at least you know your being spied on unlike those poor saps President Wilson spied on using the phone system to listen in on everyone in Washington, D.C. in the 1910’s. It’s good to be the king.
At the point where reasonalbe law abiding citizens have legitimate concerns about internet snooping, they have well lost more important rights they didn’t pay attention to.
You are either a criminal or paranoid if you care about this stuff. === well, you could also be a f&cktarded government minion misusing your power to no avail unless the government is encouraging some idealogy over another==but when the government is in that status, like I said, more important rights have already been lost.
>>At the point where reasonalbe law abiding
>>citizens have legitimate concerns about
>>internet snooping, they have well lost more
>>important rights they didn’t pay attention
>>to.
Right. And if they have nothing to hide in their homes, they’ll have no problem letting the nice police officers come in for a little look-see.
#21–Musty==lets apply my theorem to you: are you a criminal, paranoid, or a governmental minion hell bent on a misuse of power?
1. Criminal–certainly if stupid is a crime.
2. Paranoid–can’t tell the difference between “going on line” vs “police entering your home.” Indicates a Big YES. Avid gun owner thinking the actual biggest threat to his personal safety is actually a good thing? Another big YES.
3. A government minion?–most likely would flunk the civil service exam.
So, Musty, looks like the most applicable standard to you is – – – – – – – – – – “bat shit loon.”
#22 – Bobo
Oh, sod off. If you can’t ferret out the difference between “anonymity” and the police hacking into your private computer, in your private home, to muck about on your private hard disk in a fishing expedition for whatever they might find there, then you’re even more dunderheaded than I gave you credit for.
btw, they’re not “monitoring me when [I’m] on line”. They are using electronic sorcery to enter my home and review my private material. This is even worse than warrantless wiretapping; at least what I say to someone on the phone is going outside of my private home. Here, they come in after you. With no probable cause (otherwise they would have gotten a warrant).
Capiche, son?
Or should I send you to SimpleWiki-whatever for an even more elementary explanation?
#23–Mustard. You are right. Thanks.
Editor==please remove my posts on this thread. I have been revealed to be in error.
This has been happening for decades, every operating system has holes, mostly unintentional, some not so. As far as warrantless intrusive surveillance goes, they used to ask the Americans to do it for them – because they had principles and codes of operational ethics which prohibited them from doing it themselves.
Total BS !
Thats a cool gif I searched the web but could find a downloadable link just jpeg anybody know where i can get this also tried many gif sites??????thanks
The really scary part is where they start using this ‘watergate style’ for political advantage. It’s a blunt tool at best, but show’s alot of promise for diected misuse. Make it alot easier to dig up the dirty secrets of those you’d like to control. From what I’ve read of the british political scene it shouldn’t be too dificult.
#27 Just click on it and save it to your desktop. A gift from the Web to you. Then the nice policeman can see it when he searches your desktop.
#27
mouse pointer over image on this web page right button click and select the adequate option.