The Privatised Surveillance Society continued

Regular blog readers will remember this posting [http://roberthalfon.blogspot.com/2010/07/privatised-surveillance-society.html] about what I term as 'the privatised surveillance society. I described how Google had crossed the boundaries between technological advancement and personal privacy, by mapping people's personal wi-fi without their permission. I have also tabled two Commons Motions on this subject. [See http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41267 and http://www.edms.org.uk/edms/2010-2011/416.htm].

We now learn that in South Korea - an advanced internet democracy - police have carried out raids on Google offices because of the google wi-f i mapping issue [http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/technology/11google.xml]. South Korea joins Australia, Germany and America as countries which have taken action against Google. Germany in particular has called for greater consumer rights in relation to Google Street view, arguing that people have not been given enough time to remove their homes from Google's roving cameras.

Given the activities by these countries, why is it only in Britain, the authorities are seemingly sleepwalking into the privatised surveillance society? Why has the Information Commissioner not called for an Inquiry into the activities of Internet companies such as Google? I will continue to press for a Parliamentary debate on this issue when the Commons returns after the Recess.

By Robert Halfon

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