7/21/2019 This House Believes That State Interference in Civil Liberties Has Gone Too Far

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7/21/2019 This House Believes That State Interference in Civil Liberties Has Gone Too Far

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details to ourselves. After all, they are ‘personal’ details. This is not the case. As of 2002, thegovernment has been able to read our e-mails (encrypted or not), hear our ‘phone conversations(mobile ‘phones too) and even bring up our bank statements. David Blunkett proposed the sameyear, 2002 that these records should be opened up to all governmental agencies. Effectively,anyone affiliated with the government, such as the security agencies, and the criminal justice

system, could read about you at any time. Again, there is a way that this could be used to combatdanger on the streets, or to act against terrorism. What does seem strange to me is that thegovernment needs to store such vast amounts of data about us, and to open it to such a widerange of people. I am left worrying who can see so much about me, especially with the ongoingfiasco of the lost discs.

On the other hand, stores such as Tesco’s, and Morrison’s, as well as most other highstreet supermarkets store a multitude of information about us, such as address, and spendingrecords. The government could not do with other companies having better records that itself, couldit? I mean, it would be a sad situation if the government had to ask private businesses for detailsabout you.

We also have the national DNA database to worry about. Every crime that is recorded hasa DNA sample taken. So, even if you are innocent when taken to court, your DNA will still be taken.This database of people who have been arrested (whether guilty or not), amounts to almost 2million people. Volunteers have also offered their DNA, so the entire database contains the DNA ofalmost 3.5 million. This Database is still young, but the police hope to expand it, due to successesin fighting crime. The number of prosecutions in certain crimes, such as Domestic Burglary hasdoubled. The police can now establish who was at the scene of the crime. This is an immense helpin prosecuting criminals, and an example of how data can be used in a good way, to make ourcountry safer.

The civil liberties we have been granted also tie in with the human rights we deserve ashuman beings. In recent years, we have seen the rise of the police stop and search tactics. Apolice officer can literally stop you, and search you, if he thinks you could be carrying anythingdangerous, anything to commit crime, or terrorist related property. The police officer in questioncan then take you to somewhere private, and ask you to remove layers of clothing in order toreveal concealed items. This is seen as a breech of human rights. Surely as humans we should notbe subjected to such humiliation. Also, there is discrimination over who is selected for thesesearches.

In the argument over how much the government should be able to interfere with our lives, Ithink you have to draw a line between security, and spying. After all, many of these measures canbe used to save lives, and make our lives more secure, however these powers can also beabused. As we see when looking at the breaking up of political protests, often the government canmishandle people, by twisting the legislation they have made, to suit their own needs.

I think that yes, the government has gone too far astray when dealing with our civilliberties, but it does have a genuine need to further protect its people. I would propose legislation infurther depth, to protect the people; maybe even a written constitution to set the precedent for anylater government. We have a right to our privacy, our freedom of speech, and our human rights,and with that, I conclude my speech.