RIPA - Its time to despair

When I read about a complete misuse of a council's power such as this story from the Mail you really do wonder about the intelligence of the officials that authorised it. Apart from the fact that the outrage and ridicule that will justifiably be poured upon their heads - something that someone with half a brain would be able to foresee - it really make me wonder about the councils priorities in wasting the good people of Cambridgeshire money. Surely there is something more important to do?

However the real villain is of course the Government who allowed the expansion of RIPA into the local arena which include the mission creep that virtually everybody foretold.

RIPA urgently needs curbing and to be brought back to its original remit of counter-insurgency and serious crime.

RIPA and basic liberties

The Telegraph has a report that RIPA is - as everybody feared - having mission creep and now local councils and health authorities are being encouraged to further use the power to intercept phone calls and emails. Why? The Government says that "This data is a vital tool to investigations and intelligence gathering in support of national security and crime" .

So why are health authorities getting that power? What possible need do they have for data intercepts? Councils (for eg Poole) have proven time and time again that they are not to be trusted with RIPA powers and that these powers are being misused.

Dizzy has an excellent blog on why any half-decent criminal would bye-pass RIPA anyway, something that any decent techie would be able point out to the government...