DSS and LAs to trawl internet traffic

[General Saint]

The British Stasi State is bashing fundamental human
rights once again..

Blair and his poisonous band of Stalinist arse bandits
are soon to grant 
the Department of Social Security and every Local
Authority with 
far-reaching warrant-less powers to snoop on the
internet traffic of 
benefit claimants. All, ostensibly, to detect fraud. 

But note in particular the second paragraph below
where the DSS and LAs
are also granted the powers to snoop on the telephone
and internet account
details of everyone, claimants or not.


The convoluted Social Security Fraud Act 2001 says:

	"An 'authorised officer'
shall..require..'information' from..
	a..'telecommunications service provider'..where it
appears..
	that there are reasonable grounds for believing that
the
	identified person..is..a person who has committed, is

	committing or intends to commit a benefit offence
_or_..
	is a member of the family [or household] of..that
person.

	"Nothing..shall prevent an 'authorised officer'
from..
	requiring 'information'..from a..'telecommunications
service
	provider'..about the identity and postal address of a
	person identified by the 'authorised officer' solely
by
	reference to a telephone number or electronic
address.
                                                 
	"Telecommunications service providers shall have..the

	same meaning ..as in..the Regulation of Investigatory

	Powers Act 2000.. 

		[i.e. "telecomms providers includes
		internet service providers"]

	"Information" shall include any information..which
within
	the meaning of s.21 of the Regulation of
Investigatory 
	Powers Act 2000 is not communications data.

		[i.e. "information" includes any internet traffic
data]


In its Regulatory Impact Assessment of the 2001 Act,
the British 
Government openly admits that it will require "more
general 
information in bulk..for the purposes of electronic
matching
against social security records."

The first Commencement Order for the Act came into
force last 
Thursday, 18th October 2001.


See:	http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/20010011.htm
	http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2001/20013251.htm







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