[BITList] Fwd: Sir Tim Berners-Lee is right: we do 'confide' in the web

[Michael Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

 	

Viewing on a mobile?	
 
 	
 	
	Thursday, April 19, 2012
 
 	
 	
 	 	
 	EMMA
BARNETT
ON DIGITAL MEDIA
 	 
Techbriefing
 
 	
TALKING POINT	 		 	Follow Emma on Twitter
 
 	Sir Tim Berners-Lee is right: we do ‘confide’ in the web

Yesterday Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist who invented world wide web, threw his weight behind the strong opposition to the Government’s new controversial surveillance plans.

Sir Tim managed to powerfully put forward the internet user’s case against the proposals to allow the country’s security services to monitor which websites people are viewing and their online communications.

Until now we have mainly heard from human rights watchdogs and data protection experts about why these proposed Big Brother-esque surveillance laws are not fit for purpose.

However, Sir Tim’s articulation of why these plans should not come to pass has best summarised the regular web user’s concerns about the Government’s potential new snooping powers: "The amount of control you have over somebody if you can monitor internet activity is amazing,” he said. 

"You get to know every detail, you get to know, in a way, more intimate details about their life than any person that they talk to because often people will confide in the internet as they find their way through medical websites … or as an adolescent finds their way through a website about homosexuality, wondering what they are and whether they should talk to people about it.”

The Home Secretary’s proposals will allow police and intelligence officers to monitor who someone is in contact with and which websites they visit, although the content of the communications will not be accessed. The Coalition faces a backlash over the £200m a year scheme. David Davis, the former Shadow Home Secretary, said it was an “unnecessary extension of the ability of the State to snoop on people”.

Sir Tim added: "The idea that we should routinely record information about people is obviously very dangerous. It means that there will be information around which could be stolen, which can be acquired through corrupt officials or corrupt operators, and used, for example, to blackmail people in the government or people in the military. We open ourselves out, if we store this information, to it being abused."

He admitted that of all the developments on the internet – it is surveillance by governments which keeps him up most at night. Thankfully web users can sleep easy knowing Sir Tim will crusade against such draconian proposals on their behalf.



 
 	 WHO TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER	 
 	
	 	Who: Nate Lanxon - Editor of Wired.co.uk

Why: Lanxon tweets a good mixture of tech news and trivia.

Sample tweet: "My excitement over discovering all the retro titles Netflix suddenly has must stop. I've now found Inspector Gadget. All is good in Earth."


 
 	THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS	 
 	
Pocket - iPhone, iPad and Android (free)



"Pocket, the new incarnation of Read it Later, offers a beautiful and clever way of reading the things you've saved for later.”

Indu Chandrasekhar


 	Amazon Kindle Touch (£109 wifi; £169 3G)



"If you’re given a Touch you’ll appreciate it and you may never want to go back. But the standard Kindle is faster and cheaper. If you’re buying one yourself, or offered the choice, it’s your better option."

Matt Warman


 	The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition - (from £33.68) 



"With A Game of Thrones, the TV show on everyone’s lips and the roaring success of Skyrim in video games, never has the appetite for grown-up fantasy been so strong. The Witcher 2 comfortably stands among the finest legends the genre has to offer."

Tm Hoggins


 	 
 	 
 	 
 
 	 THIS WEEK'S OTHER ESSENTIAL READS	 
 	
1. We may finally have a date for the largest ever internet company flotation. Facebook's IPO is expected on May 17. Find out more detail via this interesting Telegraph report.

2. Find out how broadband providers have responded to a Parliamentary inquiry to force them to block pornography in a bid to protect children from this great Telegraph reaction piece.

3. The Telegraph's Matt Warman puts the Olympic Torch through its paces in a wind tunnel in Munich. Enjoy this entertaining account.

4. Have a read of Google founder Sergey Brin's fascinating u-turn over criticisms he made of Facebook and Apple earlier in the week on his Google+ profile.

5. Are you going to miss Ceefax? As millions lose access to the BBC teletext service because of digital switchover, we look back at 10 of its greatest features.


 
 	
	 	 Follow Emma on Twitter   |   Contact Emma: techbriefing at telegraph.co.uk
 	Subscribe   |   Forward   |    Problem reading this email?   |   Unsubscribe   
 
 	 	 
 
 	 	 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20120419/fbcb3ae4/attachment-0001.shtml