UK Information Commissioner Calls for Phone Database Transparency

Via BBC -

A central database holding details of everyone's phone calls and emails could be a "step too far for the British way of life", ministers have been warned.

Plans for such a database are rumoured to be in the Communications Data Bill.

But Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said "lines must be drawn" to defend "fundamental liberties".

The government says the growth of the internet means changes must be made to the way communications are intercepted in order to combat terrorism and crime.

In his annual report, Mr Thomas addressed speculation about plans for a government-run database holding details of telephone and internet communications of the entire British population.

'Full transparency'

He warned that while "targeted and duly authorised" interception of terrorist and other suspects' communications could be "invaluable" - there should be a full public debate on the justification for such a wide-ranging database.

"Do we really want the police, security services and other organs of the state to have access to more and more aspects of our private lives?" he said in the report.

Later he told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "I'm not saying it's right or wrong but I think there should be absolute full transparency."

He said it may make the work of the police simpler, but added: "We do have to stand up and say these are our fundamental liberties and our freedoms and lines have to be drawn somewhere, and there should be a full democratic debate about where exactly the lines should be drawn."

He told the BBC he was not aware of such a database in any other democracy and said there had not been enough debate on other methods of collecting personal details - like the expanded DNA database.