EU legislation turns UK plc into Big Brother

I received this email today:

As you may be aware that under EU Data Retention Directive (DRD) passed in 2006 which will take effect in Q1/2009 in the UK which will require the following for business purpose Wi-Fi:

securely capture, protect and retain traffic data for up to two years including:

details of connections made to the Internet;
details, but not the content, of internet e-mail and internet telephony services;
name, address of the source and destination of the communication;
analyse traffic and location data related to fixed and mobile telephony initially with Internet access, e-mail and telephony later;
segregate data for compliant investigation rather than for business use;
extract pertinent records for law enforcement enquiries “without undue delay”

Any self-configured Wi-Fi service provided to the public (customers) from next year Q1/2009 will be illegal under EU Data Retention Directive (DRD) and be penalised.

It has always been the WiFi operator’s responsibility for the traffic that goes over their network – ie if somebody uses it for illegal purposes, it is the operator who is liable. Consequently, legal terms have been drafted that the customer agrees to to protect the operator.

But now we are entering a new digital age – an age where everything is watched. All WiFi traffic will not only be recorded and retained for 2 years (yes 2 years) but that information will need to be analysed and segregated by the operator, who must also provide any and all information requested of it “without undue delay” (ie immediately) or the implication is that may be complicit (OK, the last bit is my words, but it’s not a big leap of faith).

Not only that, ISPs are already trialing software that tracks all Internet traffic, originally with the intent of providing more targetted advertising but this kind of legislation makes it clear that the Internet is becoming a closed system – at least in the EU.