Nick Clegg vetos blanket retention of data as a ‘significant reduction in personal privacy’
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has blocked draft Communications Data Bill plans, which would have seen companies allowed to track every website a person visits, as well as who they talk to on social media.
In the Telegraph, Clegg wrote that the “snoopers’ charter” would lead to a "significant reduction in personal privacy, based on proposals where the workability remains in question".
He said that the bill did not strike the balance between security and liberty, and it was for this reason the Liberal Democrats could not allow it to go ahead.
Clegg suggested that the bill would “keep records on all innocent people, but would be easily avoided by the tech-savvy criminal”, as well as raising international issues, such as setting a precedent.
He concluded: “No one denies the need for innovative solutions to meet the challenge of policing in the internet age. But the idea that we should store, en masse, the details of everyone’s web activity has not withstood scrutiny. Far better we focus our time and energy on the sensible and proportionate measures that help keep people safe.”
Earlier this week, cyber-security experts wrote a letter to David Cameron, urging him to drop the plans.