The UK has gone full batshit, implementing censorship and surveillance laws like we’ve never seen before. Well, we’ve seen it in China, and now Russia–but the UK? Really? If you weren’t aware, the Investigatory Powers Bill has now passed. In essence, it means privacy in the UK is ****cked.
TorGuard, a VPN provider, explains it best: “this new bill forces electronic data to be stored by UK Internet Services Providers for 12 months. This data can be collected by law enforcement or other potential government agencies – and no warrant is required. These other departments include GCHQ, government departments such as the Home Office, MoD, Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency, HM Revenue & Customs and the Gambling Commission.”
TorGuard and other websites covering the UK investigatory bill provide a full list of the departments (and we will too) and the length of the list–as well as the amount of departments that can access your data for 12 months, is staggering. The amount of departments and amount of data flowing around each organization seems incredibly insecure for data leaks, hacker intervention, and all other forms of data mismanagement.
The reason the UK is putting this bill/law into place is to protect its citizens and monitor criminal activity. It’s a blanket approach or a “shotgun” approach–whatever you want to call it, it’s invading EVERYONE’s privacy to catch the bad guys. The UK is becoming “big brother, ” and it’s scary to think what might come after laws like this that actually could become a reality. Imagine downloading a porno movie and getting an email from your ISP that you are being watched since you could be downloading child porn. Or having your data throttled just for using P2P. The possibilities for surveillance are endless, and their impact is unprecedented. This is just the start.
Here at Best10VPN.com, we are EXTREME privacy advocates and the idea of privacy being taken away hurts us at the core. If you aren’t using one of our top-rated VPNs–now is the time!
We are seeing it take place in Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, and many other places where people are losing their right to internet freedom. Now, in the 21st century, the internet has become so essential it’s almost inhumane to limit access to it. It’s similar to burning books or locking down libraries.
Full list of organizations that can take your traffic in the UK:
Metropolitan police force
City of London police force
Police forces maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996
Police Service of Scotland
Police Service of Northern Ireland
British Transport Police
Ministry of Defence Police
Royal Navy Police
Royal Military Police
Royal Air Force Police
Security Service
Secret Intelligence Service
GCHQ
Ministry of Defence
Department of Health
Home Office
Ministry of Justice
National Crime Agency
HM Revenue & Customs
Department for Transport
Department for Work and Pensions
NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England that provide ambulance services
Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service
Competition and Markets Authority
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Department for Communities in Northern Ireland
Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland
Department of Justice in Northern Ireland
Financial Conduct Authority
Fire and rescue authorities under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Scotland
Gambling Commission
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Health and Safety Executive
Independent Police Complaints Commissioner
Information Commissioner
NHS Business Services Authority
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board
Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Regional Business Services Organization
Office of Communications
Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
Police Investigations and Review Commissioner
Scottish Ambulance Service Board
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
Serious Fraud Office
Welsh Ambulance Services National Health Service Trust
