HMA Perception over the proposed UK Internet Safety Bill.

Two days ago UK Prime Minister David Cameron proposed a new law to impose default Internet filtering for both adult and sensitive subjects. This law would require people to ‘opt-out’ of these default Internet filters rather than make an informed choice about what filters they would like to put in place.

Here at Hide My Ass!, we truly believe that the internet should not be censored and attempts to make so-called “inappropriate content” inaccessible, freedom of expression will be seriously compromised. Automated internet filtering software is usually over restrictive and therefore ineffective. For example, use of this filtering software in an attempt to censor pornography, could easily lead to sex education advice or materials on sexually transmitted diseases being blocked.  We fully support anyone who wishes to control the internet in their own home – but a government sponsored “one-size-fits-all” filter is bound to restrict the options of parents who want to make use of smarter filters, as it will become completely unviable for private companies to develop and maintain these products.

Our biggest concern with the proposals is the lack of information on what happens to the list of people who opt-out of the filter? It is inevitable that a list of those who opt-out will be created. Will the police or indeed GCHQ have access to this list? How will this list be secured and how will privacy be protected? With the growing prevalence of large-scale data mining – what safeguards will be in place to prevent commercial ISPs from exploiting the data?

These questions have been left unanswered or worst still, unconsidered. Even with the best possible intentions, more detail is required to understand why the government wants to place online users on official lists and go against the open spirit of the Internet.

Without the answers to these questions it is not appropriate that these proposals become law – the privacy and freedoms of internet users is at stake.