The Data Retention Act: Bad news for the internet and its users

The Home Office has admitted that the government will call on BT and other big communication firms to help to monitor the activities of British customers served by smaller internet providers (ISP’s). Under the Data Retention Act, records of private information will be recorded for at least a year, costing the taxpayer around £46 million. The data stored will include emails sent and received, web traffic and sites visited. Although the measures have only recently come into practise, the government initially made recommendations in the wake of the 7/7 July bombings with the intention to keep an eye on any online terrorism activity. These records could then be passed on to police, health authorities and security services in a flash.

It’s no surprise that the cost of the nation’s safety is a little pricey. Rather than paying every small ISP to retain customer’s communication data, the Home Office have instead threw a bundle of cash in the direction of large-scale bandwidth providers like BT to gather data from their networks. According to Whitehall officials, paying for small ISP’s just isn’t a worthwhile investment. This is because smaller providers often have less sophisticated record systems and subsequently cannot retain data as sufficiently as one might require. So by having BT collect the data rather than dozens of ADSL resellers, the government is set to save itself millions.

However, the decision has left the internet industry somewhat perplexed, with concerns over legal and privacy implications. Although the bill requires all ISPs to store every form of electronic communication made over their networks, some providers are not expected to comply for the simple reason of not having enough customers to justify spending money on. If you’re one of the lucky few who won’t be spied on, congratulations, that slow broadband connection was definitely worth it.

The internet industry is now bracing itself for the next inevitability. Intelligence chiefs have called for a vast central government database in conjunction with the private sector, pooling retained data and monitoring national communications to the tune of billions of pounds. Providers should not be surprised. The head-in-the-sand mentality adopted by ISP’s towards the Data Retention Act has contributed to the blurring of boundaries between government and QUANGO’s.

Even social-networking giant Facebook have introduced new privacy policy, which enable the site to maintain and control a member’s information forever, even after their accounts have been cancelled.

On a positive note for customers, there are ways to defend yourself against the threat of having your online activities recorded. Tor is a software project that already works with web browsers, instant messaging clients and remote login. The technology defends against traffic analysis and network surveillance. The technology protects users by bouncing around a distributed network of relays, preventing companies such as BT learning what sites are visited. Another technique to avoid being spotted is known as ‘tunnelling’, a process which encrypts all data from one network and creates a tunnel to a server or gateway outside the European Union, where the connections are unpacked and decrypted.

The public reaction to the government’s announcement has been one of fierce opposition. Forums and blogs across the UK have branded the measures as another step towards a ‘Big Brother’ state. The question remains: will the measures help the government to clamp down on unlawful activity online?

Retaining data is undoubtedly a valuable tool against terrorism and organised crime if the level of investment is sufficient. But the negative impact upon providers is sure to cause concern for the industry. As well as the financial strain (although the government have promised to reimburse all costs eventually) ISP’s also risk the trust of their customer base. This could result in a loss of revenue streams as advertisers and consumers flock to the uncharted waters of free unmonitored networks.

ISPs must continue to be viewed as providing a neutral infrastructure; after all, they have the power to know the intimate details of our lives. Therefore, they should be prevented from abusing that power, and shielded from the power of the Home Office, whose involvement has lead to diminished consumer-product confidence. If this does not happen, it is not only the digital economy that will suffer, but the internet industry as a whole.

(Smartcard News Ltd, 2009)