Earlier in the week, the British government announced plans to monitor everything people did on the web, Big Brother style. GCHQ's spies (and perhaps others) would be able to snoop on who was talking to who, and what websites people were reading, in real time and without a warrant. ISPs would be required to log all internet data for two years in order to allow it to be easily retrieved should the spies want to delve deeper. They're backing away from those plans now, in the face of widespread outrage, but in the meantime some enterprising person has decided to see if the government really believes in the policy, by lodging a Freedom of Information Act request for all of the Home Secretary's internet traffic data for the past twelve months. Emails sent, emails received, skype calls made, web pages viewed - exactly what the Home Secretary wants the spies to be able to view.
The request will almost certainly be refused. And that in itself will speak volumes about the British government's double standard on privacy.
