Tech Titans Warn Government On Snooper’s Charter Pitfalls

Facebook, Google and Microsoft have written to the UK government, warning the controversial Communications Data Bill, otherwise known as Snooper’s Charter, is expensive and could lead to “seriously harmful consequences”.

TechWeekEurope understands Facebook has been particularly active in lobbying government on the issue, with Richard Allan, the social network’s director of European public policy, leading the charge.

Twitter and Yahoo were also signatories of the letter, which was picked up by the Guardian.

Snooper’s Charter debate

The bill, which proposes forcing service providers to collect all customers’ communications information so it can be accessed by police via a simple filter, has greatly concerned privacy advocates and tech companies alike.

They worry about the potential for egregious encroachments on privacy and the threat to the openness of the Internet.

It was thought deputy prime minister Nick Clegg had blocked Snooper’s Charter from going any further, saying it would not make it to Parliament with the Liberal Democrats in government.

But following recent events, in particular the murder of soldier Lee Rigby, Theresa May and other members of government have called for it to be revived.

Yet the law would require service providers like BT, Virgin, Facebook, Google and anyone who handles any communications data to collaborate.

In the letter, the tech giants warned of the “risks in legislating too early in this fast-moving area that can be as significant as the risks of legislating too late”.

“We do not want there to be any doubt about the strength of our concerns in respect of the idea that the UK government would seek to impose an order on a company in respect of services which are offered by service providers outside the UK,” the letter read.

Meanwhile, Clegg has reiterated his concerns about Snooper’s Charter, telling LBC radio it was “unworkable and disproportionate”.

“The industry … upon whose co-operation we rely on to go after the bad people, just said it wasn’t workable in its present form,” he claimed.

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