Police State???

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk A proposed "super-database" tracking every phone call, text, email and internet usage in Britain in real time would be "a step too far for the British way of life", the information commissioner warned yesterday. 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?" A Home Office project team is developing the radical plan for a system that would use new techniques to monitor phone lines and the internet to store details on every individual's browsing and communications traffic - although not its content - enabling the police to build a profile of an individual and their network of contacts. More than 57bn text messages were sent in Britain last year, suggesting that a central database would have to be massive. Since October internet service providers and telecommunications companies have been required to keep records of phone calls, text messages, emails and internet use.

Ahuh! sounds familiar...