The UK Government plans to maintain a huge database storing details of all phone calls and emails made by the public. The move is planned as a part of the Government’s initiative to combat terrorism.
The Government would receive the records from Internet service providers and telecom companies. The information will be stored for 12 months and can be accessed by the police and security services with permission from the court.
The proposal may cause apprehension regarding ‘a big brother’ society, as the Government has also proposed databases for ID card scheme and NHS patients. There may also be concern regarding the capability of the Government to manage a database of that scale. Nearly 57 billion text messages were sent last year and about 3 billion emails are sent every day in the UK. This would create billions of records for storage.
The proposal is part of the European Union’s directive following the July 7 London bombings to standardise documentation. Since last October, telecom companies were directed to maintain records of phone calls and messages for 12 months in their databases. A Communications Data Bill will extend this to Internet, email and Internet telephony. According to the proposal the data will be handed over and stored by the Government in a single database.
The authorities feel that the availability of a single database would make the procedure much simpler and provide quicker access to information. There is apprehension that this may be a step too far and that storing the information in a single database may actually pose a greater threat due to possibility of abuse.
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