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This is a story about something positively obscene that is occurring in the United Kingdom. But if you think something similar, to some degree or other, isn’t planned for you right now, wherever you are, then dream on — be happy in your ignorance.

Listen to this…

The UK government is about to require all telecoms companies and ISPs to store the following end-user communications:

Every phone call
Every text message
Every e-mail
Every website visit
This mass of data must by law be STORED FOR A FULL YEAR and be available for perusal by “authorized” bodies.

And you’ll never guess who’s included under the “authorized bodies” tag…

According to the London Telegraph newspaper, 653 public bodies (so far!) are going to have access to all of your personal communications information showing not only who you have contacted but also when and where you contacted them. And just in case that isn’t obnoxious enough, a record of all the websites you visit will also be stored. The 653 public bodies includes police, councils, fire & ambulance and prison governors. Huh? What could possibly justify giving a prison governor the right to delve into the affairs of someone who’s not in prison? Or are we now all criminals until proven innocent?

Now, you might reasonably expect that there would be some oversight in place. Well there is.

Before any of the thousands of “authorized” people in any of those 653 “authorized” bodies can delve into your personal and private (???) communications, they will need the approval of no less a trained and trustworthy personage than – wait for it – a senior police officer or the *deputy* head of a local authority department.

Feel better now?

As one government opposition spokesman has pointed out, the British government has a history of granting themselves new powers which they claim are needed to tackle terrorism and organized crime, but which inevitably end up being used for quite different purposes. Could not the same be said of practically every government everywhere?

See, here’s why the terrorism-and-crime justification doesn’t wash:

Law enforcement organizations the world over are well aware that the terrorists and the professional crims are already using advanced encryption technologies to keep their communications hidden from authorities. So about the only people affected by this disgraceful invasion of privacy will be the average citizen.

And that includes you, when it comes to your country’s turn, so don’t feel too superior about living wherever it is you live. Knowledge is power, and governments the world over crave both. Only your refusal to accept such objectionable intrusion will keep the power hungry overlords and the shadowy alphabet agencies in check.

You will have just one chance to put a stop to this.

As I understand it the proposed law will not come before the UK Parliament until after the general election, so British citizens do at least have a chance to demonstrate at the ballot box just how little public support there is for this incredibly intrusive plan.

Wherever you live, be on the alert for such moves by your government, and let your elected representatives know that such invasion of privacy is neither acceptable nor justifiable, and that the future of their jobs depends on their listening to you.

So-called “people power” works just fine in any society where government representatives are elected, but only if enough people make enough noise.

You can start right now by spreading this warning to any social media sites you frequent.— Sites like tweet this, plurk this, buzz this, delicious, digg this, facebook, my space, ping this, reddit this, stumble this, etc.