United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

The British government is planning a "massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail, and time spent on the internet by the public," the Times of London reported Tuesday. -- "Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials," Richard Ford said. -- Stored would be an "estimated 3 billion emails and close to 60 billion text messages . . . sent throughout Britain every day," an Australian small business web site said. -- That means the number of communications stored over a one-year period would be 63,000,000,000 times 365 or 22,995,000,000,000 — about 23 trillion communications, a number that will no doubt grow quickly. -- COMMENT: Oddly enough, this news is not being carried by the U.S. corporate press. -- A Google news search indicates that as of late Tuesday it has been picked up not one U.S. newspaper, and is being reported only by trade and specialized sites like Computerworld, PC World, WebProNews, Digitaltrends, and Electronista. -- Similarly, U.S. corporate-owned media are not reporting on the development of a system of "fusion centers" that could well produce something similar to what is contemplated by the U.K. plan: “national-level interoperable information sharing and data exchange" according to a "National Information Exchange Model," with an additional goal of "institutionalizing the relationships between the fusion center and the public safety and private sector partners." ...

A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail, and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.

The information would be held for at least 12 months and the police and security services would be able to access it if given permission from the courts.

The proposal will raise further alarm about a “Big Brother” society, as it follows plans for vast databases for the ID cards scheme and NHS patients. There will also be concern about the ability of the Government to manage a system holding billions of records. About 57 billion text messages were sent in Britain last year, while an estimated 3 billion e-mails are sent every day.

Home Office officials have discussed the option of the national database with telecommunications companies and ISPs as part of preparations for a data communications Bill to be in November’s Queen’s Speech. But the plan has not been sent to ministers yet.

Industry sources gave warning that a single database would be at greater risk of attack and abuse.

Jonathan Bamford, the assistant Information Commissioner, said: “This would give us serious concerns and may well be a step too far. We are not aware of any justification for the State to hold every U.K. citizen’s phone and internet records. We have real doubts that such a measure can be justified, or is proportionate or desirable. We have warned before that we are sleepwalking into a surveillance society. Holding large collections of data is always risky -- the more data that is collected and stored, the bigger the problem when the data is lost, traded, or stolen.”

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “Given [ministers’] appalling record at maintaining the integrity of databases holding people’s sensitive data, this could well be more of a threat to our security, than a support.”

The proposal has emerged as part of plans to implement an E.U. directive developed after the July 7 bombings to bring uniformity of record-keeping. Since last October telecoms companies have been required to keep records of phone calls and text messages for 12 months. That requirement is to be extended to internet, e-mail, and voice-over-internet use and included in a Communications Data Bill.

Police and the security services can access the records with a warrant issued by the courts. Rather than individual companies holding the information, Home Office officials are suggesting the records be handed over to the Government and stored on a huge database.

One of the arguments being put forward in favor of the plan is that it would make it simpler and swifter for law enforcement agencies to retrieve the information instead of having to approach hundreds of service providers. Opponents say that the scope for abuse will be greater if the records are held on one database.

A Home Office spokesman said the Bill was needed to reflect changes in communication that would “increasingly undermine our current capabilities to obtain communications data and use it to protect the public.”

A digital vault containing information about every email, internet visit, and phone call made in Britain is to be created in a European bid to battle terrorism.

The plan, which will widen legislation governing the record-keeping responsibilities of telecommunications and internet companies, has alarmed civil libertarians who are already anxious about a proposed ID card scheme.

An estimated 3 billion emails and close to 60 billion text messages are sent throughout Britain every day, raising fears that the British Government will not be able to manage such a large store of information. A single database is also believed to be a far easier target for attack.

The Times in London has reported that Home Office officials have discussed the proposed national database plan with communications companies and that the legislation is to be outlined during the traditional November Queen's speech.

The Information Commissioner's Office has warned that Britain risks sleepwalking into a Big Brother society, while the Opposition argues the Government has a bad track record holding sensitive information and cannot be trusted. The plan comes in the wake of European Union demands for uniform record-keeping throughout Europe after the July 7, 2005, bombings in London.

Experts argue it is much simpler for police and counterterrorism specialists to retrieve information from a single source than to try to access hundreds of different companies.