Government terror watchdog Lord Carlile has expressed
concern about the government's plan to build a giant database
to store details of all citizens' phone calls, e-mails and internet
use.
Lord Carlile told The Independent newspaper that the "raw idea"
was "awful". He called for tight controls on its use.
The Liberal Democrat peer warned that it "should not be open
season" for collecting data as part of the effort in fighting
terrorism.
The controversial communications data collection scheme came to
light earlier this year, and is expected to be included in a new
Communications Data Bill introduced in the Queen's Speech next
month.
The data collected would not include the content of phone
conversations or messages sent, but would include dialled phone
numbers, details of websites visited and e-mail addresses that had
been sent messages.
Lord Carlile said the government had an "unhappy" record when it
came to safeguarding personal data.
The Information Commissioner has already expressed concern about
the planned database, saying it poses data protection risks.
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