Anti-terrorism laws designed to give law enforcement agencies
access to historical databases of telephone and e-mail traffic
could damage the take-up of e-commerce, businesses claimed this
week.
Plans for new legislation were announced on Monday in a
wide-ranging response to the 11 September terrorist attacks on the
US, and will go before Parliament in November.
Business groups said this week that they were concerned that the
Government's plans, although voluntary, could lead to more
draconian legislation in the future, with serious consequences for
costs in communications and e-commerce.
The Home Office plans to consult telecoms and Internet companies to
draw up a voluntary code of conduct, that would govern what sort of
data they should keep, and for how long.
But government officials have suggested privately that the
voluntary code could be enforced by civil action against companies
that refuse to comply, said Caspar Bowden, director of the
Foundation for Information Policy Research. "The Home Office is
trying to have its cake and eat it - and not for the first time,"
he said.
The Confederation of British Industry said that the proposed
legislation could add to the costs of businesses and harm
e-commerce.
"If users feel their privacy is being infringed it will harm
consumer confidence," said Pamela Taylor, senior e-business
adviser.
"This new legislation will obviously also mean additional costs to
ISPs and there is a very real danger of severe damage being done to
the long-term growth of e-commerce," she said.
The proposed laws follow a study - commissioned in recent weeks by
the Home Office from telecoms consultant John Horrocks - into the
practicalities of data retention.
The Home Office said it had no plans to publish the findings of
Horrocks' investigations.