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UK: Internet Villain Of The Year
John Stith
Staff Writer
2005-12-14
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This year has been a tough year for the UK, particularly as President of the European Union. They've dealt with terrorist attacks in London and fought with European nations over various issues in for the EU. One area they've been relentless in is toughening data retention laws and as such, they've earned the "Internet Villain of the Year."
The UK has taken a particularly aggressive stance against terrorism one of the methods they use is monitoring telephone and Internet record. The UK's Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) gives out the award every year because many Internet activists are against information retention, certainly at the levels required under the UK's auspices.
The beef comes from measures the British government supports that force telecoms and ISPs to hang on to the numerous records of both their employees and their customers.
An ISPA spokesman told the TimeOnline "There are strong concerns that these data retention measures would be used for wider purposes than just terrorism. There's a lot of confusion here, on issues such as data protection and human rights. It is not simply a matter of costs."
Even if the costs aren't the main issue, they are certainly a sticking point and quite extensive. The TimesOnline mentioned one large ISP estimating they would have to cough up nearly 26 million pounds and another 9 million a year in administrative costs. Much of these costs will likely be passed on to the consumers. Many of them would have a difficult time integrating increased costs, although to what extent no one knows.
While security from terrorists is topmost on many people's agenda, it's very difficult to walk the line between that security and maintaining people's civil rights as well as keeping it affordable for the businesses involved.
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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