The British government wants to create a database that would keep track of everyone’s calls, emails, texts and internet use.
Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, who has
firsthand experience of working with intelligence and law enforcement
agencies, told the Guardian:
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. 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.
Maintaining
the capacity to intercept suspicious communications was critical in an
increasingly complex world, he said.
It is a process which can save
lives and bring criminals to justice. But no other country is
considering such a drastic step. This database would be an unimaginable
hell-house of personal private information… 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’s proposals must be resisted at all costs.