From the opinion: "Instead of granting intelligence services more power, we need to worry about the coming convergence of the data-gathering demands of the state and the business imperatives of internet companies. Take a recent example: a few weeks ago, Google was granted a patent that would potentially allow it to use our phones to study the environment around us – to record noise levels, lighting conditions, temperature – and customise adverts accordingly. It’s easy to imagine that the folks at intelligence agencies would be quite delighted if Google developed this idea – at the very least, it would save them money on wiretaps.
….The idea that we need to make it easier for governments to do this, in the UK and elsewhere, is ludicrous. We need to be doing the exact opposite. It is only by anticipating the consequences of this coming unholy alliance between internet companies and intelligence agencies that our freedoms can be defended." Read more (registration may be required)
