A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being built 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. Records would be stored at massive data storage facilities such as the NSA site being built in Utah.
One has to wonder where the limits are? Will any uploaded video or comments about your favorite motorcycle race, or event be "gathered as evidence" to either prevent, or prosecute violations of the law which may be captured or distributed via persons (us!) using digital communication methods?
So, I am on my way to a race, and I capture video of my friend on his sportbike popping a wheelie on public roads, which just happens to be illegal, and I store it at Flickr because there is something that happens to be funny or crazy about the incident. 5 months from now my friend receives a citation because some NSA goon forwards the clip to local law enforcement. Visions of the Island, The Matrix and Minority Report all start floating through my mind.
The Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave has morphed into The Land of Audio, Textual, and Video Surveillance!
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