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Has UK Telephone Privacy Been Undermined?On 1st October 2007, the updated UK laws relating to telephone privacy have been put in place. The essence of these changes is that from now on, many more bodies have access to the mobile and landline telephone records and details of SMS / text messages than was previously the case. Different news organisations are quoting different numbers of groups that will have access to these details. For example, in this BBC article they number these groups at 652 public bodies. If that does not sound astounding enough, Channel 5 have been explaining that in total there will 795 organisations. Honestly, if they don't know - how should we? Whatever the actual number may be, this is a huge change in the rules of monitoring calls. It is hard to imagine that there can be anyone left in the UK that believes that telephone calls are NOT monitored. They have been for decades and that fact is not really hidden. But in the past this was largely done by computer and accessed only by GCHQ or the police. However, the sheer scale of new access to records is a worry. Leaving aside the debate about civil liberties and privacy rights - should they or shouldn't they - this must be a concern to anyone interested in the topic of identity theft. If another 700 or so organisations are able to see telephone records up and down the country, that must surely open up many thousands of employees to this information. How can we tell whether these people with new access are honest and reliable enough to use this information responsibly? Suddenly, telephone privacy is dead. Were you calling a late night sex chat number? Do you call a female late at night other than your wife? Do you have telephone betting accounts or international finance relationships that you wish to remain private? Not any more! It is very easy to imagine a sudden opportunist using such privileged information for bribery or theft, or selling these details to someone more capable of carrying out such crimes. This happens often enough with digital information as it is - now there are more potential loopholes and crimes. In terms of UK civil liberties, telephone privacy and identity theft, the 1st October 2007 was a dark day. Go back to the start of this section at
identity theft definition
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