http://www.economist.com/node/21552270Spies, lies and the internetPlans to extend surveillance and secrecy are causing alarm within the coalition and outside it
Apr 7th 2012 | from the print edition
FOR a government allegedly keen on constraining the state and advocating greater transparency, the coalition has some big ideas about electronic surveillance—and an appetite for what critics are calling “secret justice” in court cases. On two fronts, it has become embroiled in clashes about the balance between liberty and security.
First, it plans in early May to set out proposed measures giving the authorities access in real time to more data on public communications, including not only mobile phones and e-mail—which they can track now with a bit of effort—but also Skype, Facebook and online games. Theresa May, the home secretary, said this week that extending surveillance was crucial to keeping the public safe against terrorists and criminals in a high-tech age.
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