The UK government has announced that it classifies the likes of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others as external communications because the companies are based overseas, and this means that the intelligence agency GCHQ can intercept British citizens’ use of such platforms without a warrant.
This loophole was revealed as part of an ongoing legal battle with campaign group Privacy International (PI). It is the first time that the UK has commented on how the UK’s legal framework allows the mass interception of communications as outlined by US whistleblower Edward Snowden in his leaks about global government surveillance.
Naive view. Basically, this says that nothing is private or sacrosanct. Governments and other agencies have, no doubt, and will continue, again no doubt, to snoop on anything or anyone they see fit, regardless of any laws in place as these will always be open to ‘interpretation’.
So, if governments can snoop on citizens with impunity, surely any citizen who manages to snoop on the government or other agency should not face recrimination. After all, the government should (in theory at least) be accountable to the people and, therefore, have no secrets from us.
However, as this view is obviously naive, the alternative is not to say or do anything online or via a phone that you do not want anyone else to see or hear. And use severe encrption anyway, regardless of how insignificant the message is. At least make it more difficult for the snoopers and keep them busy with trivia.