UK database of communications in private hands

The proposal for a huge database that contains a record of all phone calls, text message, emails and website visited, may not have got its first public airing in the Queen’s Speech, but the plan is due to be announced sometime this month.

The government is proposing to put this giant database out to a private company to run, because of the costs and technicalities involved, much to the disappointment of the European Human Rights Commissioner and civil liberties groups too.

The projected cost is set at £12 billion but, considering the past performances of data handling and public IT projects, there is likely to be some serious debate about whether or not this is the way to go.

The government claims that today’s society demands that such a database exists, yet there are also those people who believe that this is a step too far.