The digital divide in the post-Snowden era

To that end, internet providers will be forced to introduce a backdoor point on their networks to allow intelligence agencies to read anyone's communications.

“It is clear that we are living in an increasingly technologically sophisticated society, as electronic devices of various sorts have become inextricably embedded in our lives. Internet and mobile phone use has exploded since the 1990s, and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have seen massive growth. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that researchers and media commentators have been arguing for some time that we are living in a ‘surveillance society’ (e.g. Ball et al., 2006; Lyon, 2007). What is a surprise, though, is that psychological research has not focused in detail on the variety of forms of digital surveillance. Consequently, we know relatively little about how ordinary people experience surveillance. Social psychologists Alex Haslam and Steve Reicher note that one of the offshoot findings of the Stanford Prison Experiment, that they partially replicated for a BBC documentary, was the importance of surveillance. They state that ‘psychology needs to devote far more effort to developing a science of surveillance’ (2002, p.13).”

These instances of data harvesting are connected by a shared compulsion – a data imperative – that drives many corporations and governments. This imperative demands the extraction of all data, from all sources, in whatever ways possible. It has created an arms race for data, fueling the impulse to create surveillance technologies that infiltrate all aspects of life and society. And the reason for creating these massive reserves of data is the value it can or might generate.

The report concludes that there is a proven operational case for three of the bulk powers, and that there is a distinct (though not yet proven) operational case for bulk equipment interference. “The bulk powers play an important part in identifying, understanding and averting threats in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and further afield. Where alternative methods exist, they are often less effective, more dangerous, more resource-intensive, more intrusive or slower,” the report said. The government immediately welcomed the review’s findings, saying the report makes “absolutely clear the critical importance of bulk powers”.

The report found that, when examining political groups, investigators consistently failed to get proper authorization or timely extensions for investigations or the use of informants and undercover cops.

GCHQ will face scrutiny by the European Court of Human Rights, after Privacy International lodged an official complaint against the UK eavesdropping nerve centre's use of bulk hacking abroad.

France's interior minister has claimed that encryption technology in messaging apps is widely used by terrorists and said the country would work with Germany to initially launch a European initiative to "deal with" the issue.

"Parliament does not have to be notified of section 94 directions and until last year they were not subject to formal oversight from any watchdog. Their operation will be reorganised under the investigatory powers bill although the IOCCO is pressing for stronger oversight of bulk communications data collection."

The US government is proposing making social media accounts part of the visa screening process for entry into the country. US Customs and Border Protection’s proposed change would add a line on both the online and paper forms of the visa application form that visitors to the US must fill out if they do not have a visa and are planning on staying for up to 90 days.

As The Intercept revealed last week, the Recording Centre is one of several domestic organizations within the United Kingdom involved in a top-secret program named MILKWHITE, which has provided law enforcement agencies with access to “bulk” internet data intercepted by the British eavesdropping agency Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. Prior to the disclosure, few in Scotland knew the Recording Centre even existed — much less that it has been tapping into GCHQ’s troves of data.