The UK government could launch surveillance technology capable of recording the online activities of millions of people, shrouded in secrecy. For the past year, the country’s police have been testing a system that collects internet connection logs. From the trials, the system should be rolled out nationally on the system Wire. Once implemented, this would be a powerful surveillance tool for law enforcement forces, although it has been pointed out to be controversial because it is highly intrusive..
Its operations and respective technology are said to be shrouded in secrecy and officials have not responded to queries raised. The system is part of a reform the UK made in 2016, the Investigatory Powers Act, which obliges companies to remove electronic safeguards whenever possible. A The new law establishes rules on what police forces can and cannot access, in a move criticized for its impact on people’s privacy..
Insists on the creation of a wired call Internet Connection Records (ICR), which may require internet operators and telephone companies with a judge’s approval to track users’ browsing history over the past 12 months. This is not a list of every online page visited, but it still provides significant information about online activity. For example, it may indicate that the user visited a particular address, but not the individual reading of the pages. These records include an IP address, customer number, date or time of information access and amount of data transferred. The release gives an example of ICR accessing the EasyJet app on someone’s phone, but not how it was used.
Critics point out that ICRs are too intrusive and should be protected from abuse by telecom operators and intelligence agencies. On the other hand, the The UK National Crime Agency says it tested both the operational and technical side of the tool and found significant benefits in collecting records.. The raid focused on websites offering illegal images of children, and 120 people were caught accessing those addresses. It turned out that four of the men were already known to the authorities.
Just one of the Internet providers contacted by Wired in an investigation into their ability to create and store logs of people’s online connections, TalkTalk responded that it complied with its obligations under the Act, but neither confirmed nor denied that ICRs were being made.
