Government 'considering' tracking social networking movements

[Albus]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/25/social-networking-sites-monitored

Social networking sites could be required to hold data about every person users correspond with

The Home Office has defended proposals to require social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to retain details of their users' movements on the internet.

It was reported today that social networking sites could be required to hold data about every person users correspond with via the sites.

The proposal follows plans to store information about every telephone call, email, and internet visit made by anyone in the UK on a central database.

According to the Independent, details were disclosed by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker earlier this month at a little noticed Commons committee to examine draft EU directives.

He said that the Government was considering acting on social networking sites because they were not covered by the latest proposals from Brussels.

"Social networking sites, such as MySpace or Bebo, are not covered by the directive," he said.

"That is one reason why the Government are looking at what we should do about the intercept modernisation programme because there are certain aspects of communications which are not covered by the directive."

He added that the Government's intercept modernisation programme proposals may be extended to include "the retention of data on Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and all other similar sites".

Coaker acknowledged that the plan would raise fresh concerns about the right to privacy.

"I accept that this is an extremely difficult area. The interface between retaining data, private security and all such issues of privacy is extremely important," he said.

"It is absolutely right to point out the difficulty of ensuring that we maintain a capability and a capacity to deal with crime and issues of national security, and where that butts up against issues of privacy."

A Home Office spokesman stressed that the Government was not seeking the power to examine the content of messages sent via the sites.

"The Government has no interest in the content of people's social network sites and this is not going to be part of our upcoming consultation," the spokesman said.

"We have been clear that communications revolution has been rapid in this country and the way in which we collect communications data needs to change so that law enforcement agencies can maintain their ability to tackle terrorism and gather evidence.

"To ensure that we keep up with technological advances we intend to consult widely on proposals shortly. We have been very clear that there are no plans for a database containing the content of emails, texts, conversations or social networking sites."

[T_i_B]

1. And then we have this stupid idea

Note to Labour, you don't need to take lessons to operate a Facebook account. (Although given how sparse Labour's presence in the blogosphere actually is, you do wonder how many of them have worked that one out!)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/25/primary-schools-twitter-curriculum

Children will no longer have to study the Victorians or the second world war under proposals to overhaul the primary school curriculum, the Guardian has learned.

However, the draft plans will require children to master Twitter and Wikipedia and give teachers far more freedom to decide what youngsters should be concentrating on in classes.

The proposed curriculum, which would mark the biggest change to primary schooling in a decade, strips away hundreds of specifications about the scientific, geographical and historical knowledge pupils must accumulate before they are 11 to allow schools greater flexibility in what they teach.