Norwegian Security Service Wants Details Of Citizens' Web Comments Retained For Six Months

from the anything-else? dept

Governments around the world are seeking to monitor more and more of their citizens' online activities -- and it's not just the most obviously repressive regimes doing this. In the US, there is CISPA, while the UK is drawing up the Communications Capability Development Programme. Thomas Steen alerts us to a further escalation of this desire to spy on the public, in Norway. The secret service there (known by the acronym PST) want details about comments posted on all Web sites retained (via Google Translate): "This will make it possible to identify which IP address to publish a given post at a particular time," writes PST letter also signed the acting chief Roger Berg. The current requirement is to store information detailing where, when, how and with whom Norwegians communicate using the phone, mobile or e-mail. The latest proposal would be a major extension to that, since it would require data about highly personal content to be stored. Here's how the PST would access that information: If it becomes subject to compulsory saving for six months, it will mean that the district court, upon request from the PST, may require that those who have online discussion must submit the information about who wrote a given post and when it was done.



In addition, prosecutors called a "rush of competence" in cases where data is needed very quickly. Then the police and PST require data directly from the supplier, but as the court approve it afterwards. Aside from that retrospective approval for data grabs, the other worrying aspect of this proposal from the Norwegian secret service is that, if implemented, it would establish a precedent that other countries may seek to follow.

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Filed Under: comments, ip address, monitoring, norway