Don’t sacrifice privacy in fight against terror
I’m 16 and have a passion for computers, but feel that the threat we face to our right to privacy has become much worse lately.
I’ve written to Home Secretary Amber Rudd to explain my concerns, but her response was feeble, a predictable ‘we are doing this as an anti-terrorism measure’.
Clearly, terrorism is a problem, as the recent attack in London showed us, but the Government should abide by the law, just as the public and big companies are obliged to.
Politicians are using terrorism as an excuse to justify controlling the internet, the cloud, emails, phone records and much more.
It means control over speech online and could mean control over the way people vote. If the people of Britain lose the right to stand up for a particular political view, this could well end in elections being effectively rigged.
In her response to me, ms Rudd says everything the Government does comes under the Investigatory Powers Act. ‘Section 2 of the Act makes absolutely clear that the Government has ensured that privacy is at the heart of this legislation,’ she said.
Clearly, this isn’t true. Talking to Andrew marr on TV about social media sites and messaging services, such as WhatsApp, which use end-to- end encryption (this means only the sender and receiver of a message can read them), ms Rudd said they must not become a place for ‘terrorists to hide’, and that intelligence services should be able to get into encrypted messages.
‘They have a responsibility to engage with law enforcement agencies in a terrorist situation,’ she said.
She forgets that once companies such as WhatsApp allow government agencies to take data from their services, it ruins the point of their encryption. One of WhatsApp’s key selling points is that it keeps personal data safe.
If the Government is allowed ‘back- door’ access to customer data, there’s the danger of hackers using this vulnerability to take information. The Data Protection Act says information must be ‘safe and secure’. Yet the Government is undermining the Act and our right to privacy.
There is no evidence monitoring people has ever helped or will help fight terrorism. Trading privacy rights for the fight against terrorism is unacceptable.
The threat of terrorism is the Government’s only argument in defence of its demands for mass surveillance and internet control.
FLYN BRIGDEN, Singleborough, Bucks.
Reward bravery
IT’S almost 65 years since the George Cross was awarded to a civilian, rather than a police officer, who survived to wear it.
He’s John Bamford, who was 15 at the time, the youngest- ever person awarded the GC. He saved his siblings from a house fire.
Happily, he’s still alive and is now 80. But officialdom appears reluctant to reward gallant acts by civilians, which begs the question as to why we have these awards, when almost none of the recipients is alive to receive them.
The standard seems so high as to be virtually unattainable. One of the objectives of gallantry awards is that others might be inspired by the wearers. Anyone can put a name forward for recognition — but this fact isn’t as widely known as it ought to be. ALLAN STANISTREET,
Watchet, Somerset.
Gadget wars
WHY do ‘smart’ gadgets make us feel so stupid (mail)? A couple of years ago, I bought a Bosch washing machine. I plumbed it in, bending pipes, soldering and fitting a tap connector.
All went perfectly. But trying to get the machine going made me give up. I might as well have been put in charge of a spaceship.
If I set it to 60c, I can’t get the door open. I have to wash everything at 40c. One button on the bewildering control panel says: ‘Spin perfect.’
PAUL D. THACKER, Lincoln.
Police the police
We SHOULD be concerned about the failings of senior officers in the ranks of our various police forces over the past decade.
The past two met Commissioners were not up to scratch. Wiltshire’s chief constable is pursuing a futile investigation into edward Heath. meanwhile, there was Hillsborough and vile abuse of young girls in northern cities, which was known about but ignored.
Then, there’s the failure of Cumbria police in the case of the father who a judge said probably sexually abused his toddler daughter before her death, and the predatory chief constable of manchester, mike Todd, who had a string of extramarital affairs while in the role.
Scrutiny of chief constables, before being appointed and, more importantly, when in office, is inadequate. It’s very disturbing. MARTIN KILMARTIN,
Stockport, Ches.
Carrot and stick
IT’S been suggested that children should be given carrots rather than sweets to reduce their sugar consumption.
I’m 84 and recall how in Hull in the Forties, when sweets were rationed, there used to be a man at the school gates each morning selling carrots from a bowl of water mounted on his bike.
We could buy half a carrot for ½d or a whole one for a penny. LEILA BARRETT, Beverley, E. Yorks.
My silly smart meter
I HAD a ‘smart meter’ fitted, thinking it would be good to see how much gas and electricity I was using. Unfortunately, it started registering nearly £10 a day and I was getting very worried that I couldn’t pay the bill.
I rang Scottish Power to ask it to remove the meter, as the total amount of money shown on the box was adding up to too great a sum for me, but the woman I spoke to said as far as she could see I wasn’t using that amount.
She told me to take the box off the meter and put it in a drawer. What’s the point of having a ‘smart meter’ if you’re told not to use it?
Mrs P. WILLIAMS, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Easter egg hunt
I FOUND plenty of Cadbury ‘Gesture eggs’ in their outlet shop, but no easter eggs.
Is Cadbury ashamed to sell items that are associated with a Christian festival? Does it think members of other faiths are offended by easter?
The UK has deep Christian roots. We are also a nation that prides itself on tolerance. Give us back our easter eggs.
B. JOHNSON, Chesterfield, Derbys.
A city maligned
I AGRee it’s unfair that Birmingham is labelled the ‘jihadi capital of the UK’ (Letters).
London is divided into boroughs, so Birmingham is the largest local authority in the UK, and therefore it has the highest number of muslims ( 234,000). The next highest is Bradford with 129,000. manchester has only 79,000.
MIKE HAIRSINE, Sutton Coldfield, W. Mids.