Snooping on citizens

SIR – Philip Hammond’s article (Comment, February 12) about cyber security leaves me with mixed feelings. Certainly the opening of the National Cyber Security Centre is to be applauded as a positive step in tackling cyber crime.

As we have seen in recent months, threats to our privacy can come from any direction, from the growth of ransomware to teenagers in their bedrooms apparently able to breach the security of major companies.

However, I would like to point out that the Government’s cavalier attitude towards the data privacy of individuals, recently written into law, makes a mockery of any suggestions of cyber security.

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – or “Snooper’s Charter” – enables the powers that be to hack into the personal data of anyone they choose, and forces web and phone companies to support them.

Yes, the effects of cyber crime can be devastating, but so can the impact of having one’s personal privacy breached by a heavy-handed system which could wreak havoc with the lives of people caught up in bulk data collection. There needs to be an honest, open debate about balancing security and privacy in the interests of freedom and democracy. James Wickes CEO, Cloudview Basingstoke, Hampshire