Communications Data Bill Rejected By British Public But Backed By British Queen.

Published | 7 December 2012

The British government’s controversial security tactic known as the ‘Snooper’s Charter’ has been condemned by a number of individuals as a violation and “a destruction of human rights”.

Earlier this year, the UK government issued a controversial security move it labeled as the draft Communications Data Bill, which has been denounced by many critics and renamed as the Snooper’s Charter.

The Snooper’s Charter is Britain’s pending Internet surveillance law, which requires Internet Service Provider’s (ISPs), online services and telecoms companies to retain huge amounts of private online transactions, and to hand them over to government and law enforcement employees without a warrant.

According to an online report posted on October 12, a public campaign on the Snooper’s Charter involved 19,000 responses, every one of which opposed the legislation with 19,000 against and 0 for.

Analysts suggest that the public rejection of the Charter is being ignored mysteriously, due to the British Queen’s support for the move when she described it in a speech in May as being “under strict safeguards to protect the public.”

Home Secretary Theresa May, who proposed the so-called Draft Communications Data Bill in June, accused those of being “against this bill” of “putting politics before people’s lives”. May and other members of the UK government insist that the bill is designed to save lives by combating serious crimes and pedophilia. Critics argue that there is no real evidence to show how this would be done.

May’s views were backed in a scare-mongering article, published by British newspaper The Sun, which included a photo of the bus torn apart in the London bomb attacks on July 7 2005. The article aimed to convince the British public that the Snooper’s Charter would save lives, prevent terrorism and help catch paedophiles.

But, in a report by The Metro in September, World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee criticized the Snooper’s Charter as “a destruction of human rights”, adding, “the idea that we should routinely record information about people is obviously very dangerous”.

Last month, deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg had plans to veto the Snooper’s Charter, a move that was predicted to shake the stability of the Tory-led Coalition.

Moreover, the unpopular Snooper’s Charter is said to result in British taxpayers facing a bill of up to £2.5billion over 10 years for the measures, apart from the bill being seen as a breach of freedom of speech.

[Source Press TV | Website Link ]