Snowden Affair..

[Reg Smeeton]

...any thoughts on this latest whistleblower, and his "revelations"  I'd imagine GCHQ, might pay this site an occasional visit and have a look at some of the outpourings of our more politically volatile members.

[Chubbs]

im sure dosser would love to have his say on this

[Honkytonk]

im sure dosser would love to have his say on this

He's probably been taken away already.

[Power to people]

I thought this was going to be about Lisa Snowden having some sort of affair

[horlock07]

Is this the affair thats been all over Twitter?

[Batch]

GCHQ in snooping shocker. Yes I know it's a gross simplification of the issue but we moan soon enough when a threat slips through the net.

In any case it's claimed they acted within the law so non story for now

[horlock07]

GCHQ in snooping shocker. Yes I know it's a gross simplification of the issue but we moan soon enough when a threat slips through the net.

In any case it's claimed they acted within the law so non story for now

Agreed although there is a certain delicious irony of the MP's and peers moaning about the papers secretly recording their conversations and the then Hague coming out and saying that if even if we are snooping if you arent doing anything wrong you have got nothing to worry about!

[Honkytonk]

Agreed although there is a certain delicious irony of the MP's and peers moaning about the papers secretly recording their conversations and the then Hague coming out and saying that if even if we are snooping if you arent doing anything wrong you have got nothing to worry about!

Well I mean obviously it's right that mp's and peers have more personal freedoms than everyone else. It's not like the average person is really important is it?

[pauld]

GCHQ in snooping shocker. Yes I know it's a gross simplification of the issue but we moan soon enough when a threat slips through the net.

If the snooping did anything much to avert the threat, that might be a point. Although I'm with Ben Franklin:

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety

Or put another way, we keep being told we have to win the "war on terror" because the terrorists are a threat to our "way of life". But if this is used to justify all kinds of "temporary" expediencies which radically erode our freedoms and dismantle our democracy, don't the terrorists win anyway?

In any case it's claimed they acted within the law so non story for now

The key word there being "claimed". By a bunch of lying bastards.

[Batch]

From a personal point of view I really don't care if GCHQ 'snoop' on my strange mix goat porn and geek forums. They are all over social media, phones and the like in the same way anyway and will learn far more about me.

The problem I have with Government is where the line is drawn, that consists of
a) what else they do with the data (sell it, use it for other purposes, etv).
b) whether (as you say) they try to use it as a hammer to force through ridiculous schemes like identity cards.

you have a point regarding lying bastards though, I just can't be arsed to be outraged. Yet.

By now you will be tearing your hair out, so I may as well push you over the edge by saying I find the new x-box 'must be online' thing (and "the cloud" in general) a much greater threat to my information being misused!

[pauld]

By now you will be tearing your hair out, so I may as well push you over the edge by saying I find the new x-box 'must be online' thing (and "the cloud" in general) a much greater threat to my information being misused!

Not really (tearing my hair out), more inclined to agree tbh. I find it especially amusing when people who are quite happy to post their personal lives all over facebook get a gob on about "Big Brother government"

[Ticker45]

There was a line in the "Person of Interest" TV series where the guy who developed the all seeing computer system said that the US Government were searching for ways to keep tabs on people when along came the internet and social media sites that did it all for them. Not far wrong.

[ron dodgers]

It is legal - government,polizei etc are exempt from DP Act, don't get me started on the 'cloud'. FFS you can store all you financial info on my nas if you like.
I think I'll go dark now.

[pumbaa]

government,polizei etc are exempt from DP Act

Wrong!

[Samdy Gray]

Not exempt, but do have certain legal privileges.