UK Citizens' Browsing History to be Viewable by... just about everyone

[guzzi]

Bloody hell. I have previously said I'm pretty sanguine about this as I have nothing to hide. But that list of agencies has completely changed my mind. This has always been justified on the basis of counter-terrorism, but the likes of the Food Standard Agency? Really?

 

Can anyone advise whether using a VPN service that assigns a surrogate IP address without logging your details is an effective privacy measure?

[quilp]

No.

[HeliX]

Can anyone advise whether using a VPN service that assigns a surrogate IP address without logging your details is an effective privacy measure?

 

Yes, it is. But ideally run your own virtual server somewhere (not UK) and run OpenVPN on it instead.

If you wanted to create a company to harvest interesting internet traffic you'd start a VPN company. Hence I don't trust any VPN company.

[HeliX]

 

I do feel somewhat at aghast at how many people are going to be impacted by this idiocy.

In what sort of ways do you think people will be typically affected?

 

I doubt most people in Britain today are using the web for much more than - Facebook, iPlayer, Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, Gmail and the various messaging services. And gaming.

 

 

Given the Government has wanted porn sites to have people upload their ID to verify age, anyone who watches porn will be impacted (which will be more than half of people at a guess that I could probably get stats for if you're particularly arsed).

But it's the wording of the rest of the bill that bothers me, in that the Government wants power to block things that aren't porn. Things the Government doesn't agree with. Which is marginally terrifying.

 

And the Snoopers Charter side of it will impact anyone the Government chooses it to (or indeed, hackers choose it to given that The Welsh Ambulance Trust or whatever will have access and I very much doubt they have a particularly strong IT Security team).

[pongo]

But it's the wording of the rest of the bill that bothers me, in that the Government wants power to block things that aren't porn. Things the Government doesn't agree with. Which is marginally terrifying.

I believe that is only "terrifying" if you don't trust the democratic process. Or are you opposed to any form of censorship per se? I don't think I am. But I am not sure.

[Tarne]

Cheers pongo, yeah I misunderstood a bit but I'm still anti censorship in all methods - I've seen it abused so many times. Hell, there's already a block on a lot of torrent sites in the UK which came in under the child porn law restrictions I believe. Fake news annoys me too, because people repost it a lot, but for the more tech savvy it is pretty easy to beat, just use reputable sources. It is a problem but not something the UK can stop by itself.

 

My search history is left on, and it'd be filled with things that could potentially be used against me, so I probably should turn it off. I like the travel map one though that shows you everywhere you've been.

[Tarne]

And I realise I've gone off topic, I just feel that government depts viewing Internet history will lead to more blockages and censorship

[pongo]

My search history is left on, and it'd be filled with things that could potentially be used against me, so I probably should turn it off

Seems unlikely that would make any difference in this context.

 

Google is about advertising, marketing and analytics. I think the reasons for logging out of Google would relate to that only.

[HeliX]

 

But it's the wording of the rest of the bill that bothers me, in that the Government wants power to block things that aren't porn. Things the Government doesn't agree with. Which is marginally terrifying.

I believe that is only "terrifying" if you don't trust the democratic process. Or are you opposed to any form of censorship per se? I don't think I am. But I am not sure.

 

What democratic process? The Snoopers Charter has been forced through with no concern given to public opposition, by its own architect, who became an un-elected Prime Minister.

[the stinking enigma]

Just remember. It's all about keeping you safe people

[HeliX]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/30/investigatory_powers_act_backdoors/

 

Jesus wept.

[rmanx]

Just remember. It's all about keeping you safe people

 

More like they force internet providers to have an "opt in" scheme for adult content. You sign up, wishing to exercise your right as an adult and watch porn...then something happens involving a sexual crime in your area....

 

First thing the police are going to do is access the pervert register, then access your viewing history and then...well you can work out the rest.

[rmanx]

Lifted from a comment on the Register:

 

 

There will be no Revolution here.

 

A per-requisite for a revolution is the ability of likely-minded individuals to organize, prepare and serve as the catalyst for the masses to rise.

Let's see:

 

1. Organize. Let's face it - the current surveilance and anti-encryption laws guarantee that this does not happen. The government was taken by surprise 15 years ago by the fuel blockade protests and it has been ensuring that it never happens again. No organization for the proles. Ever.

 

2. Prepare. Right, British law is pretty adamant on the "prepare" bit - any preparation falls under possessing materials "useful for terrorists", so this was taken care of by the previous Evil Witch.

 

3. Masses to rise. Masses which are glued to the 42 inch TV set watching "I am a celebrity, get me out of here" buried under a pile of Hello, OK and Sun on Sunday are not rising any time soon. The most they will rise will be for a new bag of crisps. The masses may riot, but they will NOT rise.

 

So the answer to "Dad, what did you do in the Revolution" will be "Nothing as there was not one".

[paswt]

 

Just remember. It's all about keeping you safe people

 

More like they force internet providers to have an "opt in" scheme for adult content. You sign up, wishing to exercise your right as an adult and watch porn...then something happens involving a sexual crime in your area....

 

First thing the police are going to do is access the pervert register, then access your viewing history and then...well you can work out the rest.

 

 

Fair comment .

 

The folk who logged on to child porn sites and are prosecuted, how long will it be before those who log onto "adult porn sites" end up being "banged up" in these "PC" times ?

 

Just saying

[rmanx]

It wont be just adult sites. Soon it will be anything the Government deems "unsuitable".

 

Satire sites ripping on the Government, web content from countries that the Gov doesn't like, anything that could remotely be seen as seditious...

 

The Governement is trying to police the digital frontier by building a wall around it. And we all know how successful walls are...