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RIPA was strongly opposed by the IT and communications community during its 'consultation' period, but was passed largely intact. It was so intrusive a propo

RIPA was strongly opposed by the IT and communications community during its 'consultation' period, but was passed largely intact. It was so intrusive a proposal that even people like me who often say 'I'll write and complain' actually did write a letter. Predictions of its misuse have been borne out, particularly as the authorized users of communication data were never enumerated or restricted. So we have the situation today where local Councils use RIPA to obtain communication data regarding individual citizens' activities.

jackgavigan 13y ago
> ..local Councils use RIPA to obtain communication data... It's worth noting that legislation introduced during 2012 limited the circumstances under which councils could use RIPA powers [1] and required judicial approval for the exercise of those powers [2]. [1]: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1500/article/2/made http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1500/article/2/made [2]: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/part/2/chapter/2/enacted http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/part/2/chapter/2/...
- csmuk 13y ago
  This only happened after various scandals about privacy invasion by councils.
  - jackgavigan 13y ago
    And after a Tory-led government came to power...
    - csmuk 13y ago
      What's that got to do with it? (genuinely interested).
      - jackgavigan 13y ago
        I think it's ironic that those who are in favour of personal liberties are often on the left of the political spectrum whereas, in this instance, it was the Tories who rolled back aspects of surveillance legislation that was introduced by Labour.
        csmuk 13y ago
        I think that the left/right distinction is silly myself. A typical red vs blue flag waving exercise rather than solving anything. Both labour and conservatives seem to mix the tenets of the two freely based on whim rather than manifesto. On one hand we have Big Society and smash socialism. On the other hand we have Big Society and smash socialism. Same turds, different coloured glitter. All parties have sold out to their corporate sponsors and are as bent as anything.
        jackgavigan 13y ago
        Whilst I don't agree 100%, I don't disagree strongly enough to make an argument of it. :-)
        mindcrime 13y ago
        I think that the left/right distinction is silly myself. You're right, it's totally ridiculous. The whole thing is rooted in shit that dates back to before the French Revolution[1], and there's no real connection whatsoever between the "left" and "right" of the French Assembly and modern political views. How absurd is it? Just read this: There is general consensus that the Left includes progressives, communists, social-liberals, greens, social-democrats, socialists, democratic-socialists, civil-libertarians (as in "social-libertarians"; not to be confused with the right's "economic-libertarians"), secularists, and anarchists, and that the Right includes conservatives, reactionaries, neoconservatives, capitalists, neoliberals, economic-libertarians (not to be confused with the left's "civil-libertarians"), social-authoritarians, monarchists, theocrats, nationalists, Nazis (including neo-Nazis) and fascists. It takes anybody with even half a brain about .0002 seconds to realize that any sort of ontology that lumps "neoconservatives" and "economic libertarians" (which basically corresponds with "US style libertarianism") in the same bin, or that lumps "anarchists" with "democratic socialists", or that lumps pretty much any kind of "libertarian" along with "monarchists" and "theocrats", is totally useless. In modern terms, there is no "right" and there is no "left". There are just people haphazardly throwing around archaic labels because they either A. have a vague notion that the label confers some sort of appealing "vibe" and want to leverage it to advance their cause, or B. have a vague notion that the label will be seen as a pejorative and want to use it to put their opposition in a bad light. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left%E2%80%93right_politics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left%E2%80%93right_politics
csmuk 13y ago
Spot on. I wrote to my MP about RIPA. Not a sausage back.

jackgavigan 13y ago

> ..local Councils use RIPA to obtain communication data... It's worth noting that legislation introduced during 2012 limited the circumstances under which councils could use RIPA powers [1] and required judicial approval for the exercise of those powers [2]. [1]: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1500/article/2/made http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1500/article/2/made [2]: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/part/2/chapter/2/enacted http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/part/2/chapter/2/...

csmuk 13y ago
This only happened after various scandals about privacy invasion by councils.
- jackgavigan 13y ago
  And after a Tory-led government came to power...
  - csmuk 13y ago
    What's that got to do with it? (genuinely interested).
    - jackgavigan 13y ago
      I think it's ironic that those who are in favour of personal liberties are often on the left of the political spectrum whereas, in this instance, it was the Tories who rolled back aspects of surveillance legislation that was introduced by Labour.
      - csmuk 13y ago
        I think that the left/right distinction is silly myself. A typical red vs blue flag waving exercise rather than solving anything. Both labour and conservatives seem to mix the tenets of the two freely based on whim rather than manifesto. On one hand we have Big Society and smash socialism. On the other hand we have Big Society and smash socialism. Same turds, different coloured glitter. All parties have sold out to their corporate sponsors and are as bent as anything.
        jackgavigan 13y ago
        Whilst I don't agree 100%, I don't disagree strongly enough to make an argument of it. :-)
        mindcrime 13y ago
        I think that the left/right distinction is silly myself. You're right, it's totally ridiculous. The whole thing is rooted in shit that dates back to before the French Revolution[1], and there's no real connection whatsoever between the "left" and "right" of the French Assembly and modern political views. How absurd is it? Just read this: There is general consensus that the Left includes progressives, communists, social-liberals, greens, social-democrats, socialists, democratic-socialists, civil-libertarians (as in "social-libertarians"; not to be confused with the right's "economic-libertarians"), secularists, and anarchists, and that the Right includes conservatives, reactionaries, neoconservatives, capitalists, neoliberals, economic-libertarians (not to be confused with the left's "civil-libertarians"), social-authoritarians, monarchists, theocrats, nationalists, Nazis (including neo-Nazis) and fascists. It takes anybody with even half a brain about .0002 seconds to realize that any sort of ontology that lumps "neoconservatives" and "economic libertarians" (which basically corresponds with "US style libertarianism") in the same bin, or that lumps "anarchists" with "democratic socialists", or that lumps pretty much any kind of "libertarian" along with "monarchists" and "theocrats", is totally useless. In modern terms, there is no "right" and there is no "left". There are just people haphazardly throwing around archaic labels because they either A. have a vague notion that the label confers some sort of appealing "vibe" and want to leverage it to advance their cause, or B. have a vague notion that the label will be seen as a pejorative and want to use it to put their opposition in a bad light. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left%E2%80%93right_politics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left%E2%80%93right_politics

csmuk 13y ago

Spot on. I wrote to my MP about RIPA. Not a sausage back.