"Should council snooping powers be changed? - Councils in England have been urged to review the way they use surveillance powers to investigate suspected crime. Should their powers be curbed?"
As ever the "Readers Recommended" is well worth a perusal:
"Sorry? Access to phone and email records by my council? What? You mean arbitrary access at will without judge’s permission? When did this happen?
Backdoor legislation introduced by a backdoor ‘government’; why does this have echoes of the old East Germany?
Don’t worry though, sheeple, there is nothing to worry about; they are here to protect us, aren’t they? All of their intentions are honourable. We have nothing to fear!
I am bereft of further comment; what have THEY done to this country?
Steve B, Wilts, United Kingdom
This is an astonishing example of how powers brought in to deal with terrorism can be extended to cover the most mundane aspects of daily life. It should serve as a check against any complacency on ID cards. The Government says that the vast amount of information the ID card database will make available will be used to counter terrorism, but do not recognise that any future government may take a different view of things and put hte information to more intrusive uses.
David, Bristol
They brought thes laws in to deal with terrorism, but they seem to have been used to spy on dog-walkers.
Then they wonder why so many people object to 42 days
David Potts, Grayswood, United Kingdom
I work for a large engineering company - we are out on the road all day in single occupancy vans - no passengers allowed. A colleague of mine stopped to have lunch in his vehicle at a layby in a torrential downpour, after eating he lit up a ciggie.
Surprise, Surprise next day he is called into managers office as the local council have sent in a photograph taken on a telescopic lens capturing the "offence".
This country is a joke - terrorists walk free.
Brendan Olear
What would be more beneficial is for tax-payers to set up CCTV to spy on councilors to see where our council tax is being used!
Some councils cannot be bothered to collect rubbish once a week - do the Government honestly expect them to fight Terrorism!
[Star-boy], Somewhere between boredom and sexual frustration, United Kingdom
It is a pity they don't use the powers to snoop on potholes in the road and get them fixed.
Unbelievable, that this amount of power be put in the hands of petty minded town hall officials. Leave the defence of the realm to the police and the forces, and switch this ridiculous law off.
[InTheNameofSanity], London, United Kingdom
Too late. Nulabour are already turning this country into a police state.
If you don't like being spied on, this is about the last country on Earth you should be living in. Nulabour see everything you earn as being theirs, and feel they should know everything you do.
Get used to it.
Steve Butler, Basingstoke, United Kingdom
I think this is an extremely dangerous situation. Council officials should not be granted such obscene powers to spy upon people.
I am concerned that they have been so casually awarded the rights to access phone and email records. They are as fallible as anyone with such awesome power and it seems there are no proper checks in place. We have less freedom to even breathe unobserved in the UK than under any of the old communist regimes. Bar codes on our foreheads next?
[sharpshooter1], Sandhurst, United Kingdom "
As ever the BBC viewers have a better grasp on "liberty" than the BBC.
How can everyone see this happening, yet the Conservatives and Lib Dems don't set out how they are going to sort this out in their manifestos?
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