Eye mural, Paris. Flickr/Hans Olofsson. All rights reserved.Last Friday’s tragic events in Paris have led to the all too predictable calls for legislation to be rushed through – in this case the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill. Among other powers, this bill sets out for the first time detailed new laws to allow for bulk interception, bulk acquisition of communications data, and bulk equipment interference, allowing agencies to hack any devices.
We’ve seen the same thing many times before. After 9/11, the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill was brought in and passed within a month – an incredible rush job for a bill that stretches to 117 pages. Its provisions included powers to detain indefinitely anyone suspected of terrorism, without charge or trial.
The atrocity of the 7/7 bombing saw the Terrorism Act 2006, which was infamously intended to introduce 90 day detention for people not even told what they were accused of. And it’s not just the UK that does this – the massive and intrusive US Patriot Act was passed just 45 days after 9/11, containing extensive powers to read and monitor citizens' communications, allowing indefinite detention of aliens, and allowing warrantless tracking.
