[liberationtech] interception modernisation programme

[Frank Corrigan]

As many will know the UK has a coalition Adminstration of the
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, sometimes unkindly called ConDems.
Both parties gave pre-election promises to roll back Civil Liberty
intrusions, most prominently this led to canceling the National ID Card
and ID Database.

However, the interception modernisation programme (IMP) will go ahead:

"The coalition government has approved a multibillion-pound plan by the
intelligence agencies to store details of every online conversation.
Under the most likely scenario, Deep Packet Inspection technology will
be configured by GCHQ to grab such data from passing traffic and store
it in vast silos run by communications providers."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/20/imp_coalition/

Briefing on the Interception Modernisation Programme
June 2009
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/informationSystems/research/policyEngagement/IMP_Briefing.pdf

The United Kingdom is seen as a pioneer of mass surveillance. At the end
of 2006 it was described by the Surveillance Studies Network as being
'the most surveilled country' among the industrialized Western states.
(Probably the world...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance#cite_note-4

Frank