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Tech companies face criminal charges if they notify users of UK government spying

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Anomalism

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Tech companies face criminal charges if they notify users of UK government spying - TechSpot

Last week, it was reported that Yahoo had become the latest company that promised to alert users who it suspected were being spied on by state-sponsored actors. Twitter, Facebook and Google had previously assured their users that they would also warn them of any potential government spying. The UK, it seems, isn’t happy about this, and is pushing through a bill that will see the bosses of any company that warns its members that British agencies are monitoring them face up to two years in prison.
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I have to say I enjoy how pathetic governments can be sometimes.
 
joG said:
If the monitoring is legal it would seem reasonable that it could be illegal to inform the monitored.
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If I was Yahoo, Google, Twitter, etc then I would feel compelled to tell my users if they are being monitored by the government. The government can consider that terrible if they want, but at the end of the day they are watching my users and I don't much care for it.
 
Henrin said:
If I was Yahoo, Google, Twitter, etc then I would feel compelled to tell my users if they are being monitored by the government. The government can consider that terrible if they want, but at the end of the day they are watching my users and I don't much care for it.
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Spending time in a British prison would give you time to think about it.
 
joG said:
Spending time in a British prison would give you time to think about it.
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You do know that Brits have ZERO jurisdiction over Americans, don't ya? Most of this companies are American firms and as such can do as they please when it comes to their customers, those that operate this sites are often not in the UK, hence nothing could actually be done. By the way companies such as these can fight back also, how would you like to have all your services cut off, me thinks the government would stand down first.
 
Casper said:
You do know that Brits have ZERO jurisdiction over Americans, don't ya? Most of this companies are American firms and as such can do as they please when it comes to their customers, those that operate this sites are often not in the UK, hence nothing could actually be done. By the way companies such as these can fight back also, how would you like to have all your services cut off, me thinks the government would stand down first.
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That is what one might believe. But an international warrant would be pretty unpleasant for a businessman.
 
joG said:
Spending time in a British prison would give you time to think about it.
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Doesn't matter. I will do what I think is right and the government wanting information on my users is not something I will take without some push back. I also learn nothing that you think I will in your prisons. All I will get out of it is even more assurance that I was right to stand against you.
 
joG said:
That is what one might believe. But an international warrant would be pretty unpleasant for a businessman.
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So would having your Twitter, Google and etc. accounts canceled for good, keep in mind the internet giants are also in bed with the telecom companies, and they can do serious damage if pushed hard enough, be careful who you threaten they just might fight back. Just a thought, how much personal information do you have on the web, I wonder if the government "officials" and statesmen realize that their personal and even government information could easily be leaked to the world, as I said, pick your fights and know when to step back, I doubt that any of these organizations are going to be bullied by some bureaucrats without throwing some serious punches themselves.
 
joG said:
If the monitoring is legal it would seem reasonable that it could be illegal to inform the monitored.
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Why are you for governments spying on the people?
 
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How well would it really go for the government if they decided to arrest the bosses at Yahoo for telling their users they are being spied on? Does the UK government have any idea how badly that would go for them?
 
jamesrage said:
Why are for governments spying on the people?
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That is part of the question of controlling the government. If there is legal cause and sufficiently believable and robust control?
 
joG said:
That is part of the question of controlling the government. If there is legal cause and sufficiently believable and robust control?
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So you are cool with governments spying on people?
 
This story speaks to the authoritarian bent of the mainstream, centrist, centre-right and right-wing British political establishment. They have never been friends of open government, freedom of information or full disclosure. This story provokes more chagrined head shaking than rampant outrage, just because for many of us this is just a further confirmation of the authoritarian bent of modern 'liberal democracies' that we've known about and warned about for years, if not decades.
 
Andalublue said:
This story speaks to the authoritarian bent of the mainstream, centrist, centre-right and right-wing British political establishment. They have never been friends of open government, freedom of information or full disclosure. This story provokes more chagrined head shaking than rampant outrage, just because for many of us this is just a further confirmation of the authoritarian bent of modern 'liberal democracies' that we've known about and warned about for years, if not decades.
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opposed to, a state with secret police, neighbour pitched against neighbour, indiscriminate purges for reason of fancy of the day. I'll take a liberal democracy, all day long...
 
George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning against the loss of privacy and freedom by a totalitarian government that monitors everything you do. I find it ironic that the British government has instead used the book as a blueprint to enforce a nationwide surveillance system which is the complete opposite of what the author was advocating.
 
gunner said:
opposed to, a state with secret police, neighbour pitched against neighbour, indiscriminate purges for reason of fancy of the day. I'll take a liberal democracy, all day long...
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You just described one:

  • State police? Check - that's what we've been discussing.
  • Neighbour pitched against neighbour? Check - isn't everyone terrified of their Muslim neighbour?
  • Indiscriminate purges? Check - that's the very complaint we're dealing with; indiscriminate collection of irrelevant information, trawling for any potential wrong-doing, no one knowing or trusting what the state police will do with said information.
  • ...fancy of the day? You mean like ISIS this week, Al-Qaeda last, Serbians, Russians, Irish , Nazis. You can pretty much map the progress of fashionable enemies of 'liberal democracies' by checking out the casting of movie baddies. It's an ever-changing cast list. The only thing that doesn't change is the insistence that the latest foe is the worst threat to our society and way of life ever; that the behaviour of the newest antagonist is inhuman and far surpassing in brutality that of any others previously encountered.
 
joG said:
Within the parameters I mentioned, I do not see why you should be against monitoring electronic data.
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So in other words you support governments spying on people and jailing companies that notify their customers/users that the government is spying on them.
 
jamesrage said:
So in other words you support governments spying on people and jailing companies that notify their customers/users that the government is spying on them.
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Then let's take the case of a mafia drug dealer. You are against collecting data and tapping her phone?
 
joG said:
Then let's take the case of a mafia drug dealer. You are against collecting data and tapping her phone?
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Security will always be the excuse used to hinder our rights. The safety people believe this will bring is an illusion. The government's ultimate goal is to repress our rights as much as possible and take over the internet so they can control the flow of information like they do with the MSM. Every concession we make brings them a little bit closer.
 
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