Battleangel

Unsettling news from the British Isles.

Techworld via Slashdot - One of the justifications for an increase in the number of days a terrorist suspect can be held in the UK without charge, from 14 to 90, is the time it takes to decipher what is on a suspect’s computer hard drive.

Dr Mirza said: “There was a massive backlog of computers to analyse. Some of them couldn’t be looked at for over 90 days.” It could be just as likely that the police are looking at the controversial extension measures simply because the lack of resources mean terrorist hard drives could be part of a wider queuing system.

I shudder at the thought of who is also in this wider queuing system. The implications here are legio. For one, it makes cryptography sound like something that only criminals, and indeed hyped up “terrorists” would use. Despite the fact that cryptography is completely legal and that every citizen has a right to protect oneself and one’s data against prying eyes. ESPECIALLY if one is held for 90 days without being formally charged with a crime.

Also, this is surely an attempt at making up reasons why the 14 day limit should be extended and why Britain should continue its metamorphosis into a full-fledged police state. Just like its deplorable ally on the other side of the Atlantic. Obviously there is no reason for the extension. So lets make one up. Here comes the technobabble and fearmongering that wins over the politicians.

Oh, and did I mention that Truecrypt 4, the free open-source disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux, was just released?