Remember that picture you sent to your family of your children playing in the paddling pool? Or that private text you sent to someone trusted? Or when you searched for medical advice?

Then, guess what: those messages and websites you visited will be stored and could potentially be obtained by criminals. What’s more, as soon as these messages are sent, their metadata (who we speak to, where we were, when it took place and how long we spent talking) and the content of communications could potentially be read by government agencies with a warrant.

When it comes to the services you're connected to the internet, the Investigatory Powers Act (known derisively to some as the Snooper’s Charter) allows government agencies, under certain circumstances, to access those records. What's more, a technical capability regulation was leaked in May to the Open Rights Group, a civil rights group. Such a notice would legally compel a telecommunications firm to record all of the communications by the target(s) named in the warrant, and to transmit this information, in near real-time, in a readable format (if it's already in a readable format).

Following the recent terror attacks in London and Manchester, Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated her intention to “regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning.”

This is to help protect us from future acts of terrorism – and disclosing intercepted content in real time isn't new – but is it an intrusion into our private lives?

Safety vs privacy – which is more important?

In the UK, the vast majority of the population support the prevention of terrorism: in 2010, a survey revealed that nine in 10 are happy with a proportionate loss of privacy in certain circumstances, such as full-body scanners in airport security checks. And in 2015, another survey showed that double the amount of Americans were concerned the government wasn’t doing enough to fight terrorism than the amount of Americans who were concerned with losing certain civil liberties in the process.

The IP Act first came into effect on 29 November 2016. From that point, all telecommunication services whose providers were given notice by the Secretary of State were compelled to store records of certain electronic communications, and record people’s internet connection records, as well as, when served with a warrant, allow the government access to this information.