Open letter to the UK Home Secretary

The UK Home Secretary is currently putting the ‘Investigatory Powers Bill’ before the Government; detractors call it the ’snoopers charter’. We are told that ‘those who have done nothing wrong, have nothing to fear’ from these powers.

I very rarely do not tell the truth
I routinely keep speed limits, and have no points on my driving licence
I have never been drunk in my life
I have never used illegal drugs or ‘legal highs’
I don’t watch porn, have never slept around or had an affair
I smoked one cigarette as a teenager, and I didn’t like it
I have no debts
I declare all sources of income and pay my taxes on time
I have never been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime
I have no involvement with terrorism other than to follow the news
I have only been inside a police station to report a lost wallet.

And yet I still do not want you reading my emails or tracking my phone calls or activities!

Although I recognise that the weight of responsibility for the UK’s security must weigh heavily on your shoulders, and I don’t assume you are particularly interested in watching me, I nonetheless do have something to fear:

You are not balancing the necessary measures to protect us from terrorism with the protection of privacy for ordinary citizens
You do not admit what the security services are doing unless forced to do so
You avoid transparency and accountability, and minimise the checks and balances to restrain the excesses of undue power
And you only make changes when the current position becomes untenable or is declared illegal.

I do not think that you are an evil person, or that you want to be a dictator. But protecting the security of our citizens includes protecting the privacy of ordinary people from unreasonable intrusion. Yet the clear trend is for increasing and intrusive surveillance of the general UK population and I do not see you trying to slow that trajectory. Rather, I see you trying to legalise after the event what has already been taking place in secret, and putting in place further loopholes that can be exploited in the future.

So, I do not trust you.

You have moved well beyond a reasonable concern for security, and I am fearful that this country, which once was known for its openness, honesty, justice and free speech, is becoming an oppressive state.

And I am fearful of that, for by your actions you are seriously eroding the security you claim to protect.