Brits would quite like their private messages to stay private

21asdffdsa12

Well, they would have loved to stop migration and voted in droves for brexit for that. Cant have that though, democracy or not, can vote for any party, but cant have that result they all promise before the vote closes and never deliver once the vote is in.

Retr0id

Oops, looks like they'll need to roll out more "think of the children"-shaped propaganda first. Or maybe a terrorism scare?

DrMandalay

GCHQ has done it's job of obfuscating it's existence pretty well, for most Brits to still think they've had any privacy at all for the last few decades.

HPsquared

Generally speaking the more important an issue is, the less it is allowed to be affected by democratic processes. That's why Brexit was such a big upset, it bucked the trend (the management miscalculated, nobody expected the result and would not have put it to referendum otherwise).

cynicalsecurity

Unless Brits are ready to rise up and topple their government, this poll means nothing.

janpeuker

A long time ago I walked into a public library to get a library card, already my ID in hand. Staff looked at me aghast "why would we need an ID for a card, that'd be ridiculous!". I feel Brits take privacy quite seriously.

jbrooks84

Get over yourselves, nothing is private anymore

hackersnooze1

I am not convinced they do, they keep voting to give away their privacy every year.

softwaredoug

In the US we have tech companies complying with sketchy DHS subpoenas that don’t require warrants. We have DoJ targeting political enemies. We have FISA mass surveillance. It’s naive to think politically motivated surveillance can’t happen in the UK and elsewhere. Or to assume that only the “right people” will be the ones able to break encryption.

diego_moita

In theory yes, in practice no. In theory everybody supports healthy eating, in practice most people are overweight or obese. In theory everybody thinks exercising, energy conservation, caring for the environment is good, in practice almost no one does it. In theory everybody thinks studying and reading good books is a good thing, in practice most people just want to switch off their brains in front of the television or social media. Most people lie mostly to themselves. Politicians and marketers know this, that's why they only tell people the lies they want to hear.

svobodamartin

Only Brits? Privacy shouldnt be privilege or for tech-savvy only. Freedom of speech cant be regulated without being lost.

hn_submit

And water is wet. Of course Brits are going to answer that they'd rather not have the government read their private correspondence. But at the same time there has been very little protest over draconian legislation in the UK like the Online Safety Act and RIPA Part 3 that cover just these aspects.

semiquaver

If this is true and it doesn’t lead to legal changes eventually, then in what sense is Britain a democracy?

mhh__

I don't think they do. The revealed preference is online safety this online safety that - although in fairness some of this is out of a desire to avoid deeper issues.

IndySun

To all of us, British or otherwise, who're posting our rabbit-holing Democracy and Brexit comments, a moment of cutting light relief. Enjoy some "Yes, Prime Minister". https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ahgjEjJkZks&ra=m

hnub7akvk6

Not what I expected but I'm here for it

freakynit

All surveillance should start with ministers first. Their private lives streamed 24/7 over internet for the public to watch. Of course, this is only for national security since humans are corruptible, and these people have vastly most control over a nation's resources, thus, 24/7 monitoring of their private lives, by the public, is super important... for national security ... or else how we can be sure they have not been compromised by a foreign power.. or are not being blackmailed to act against the nation? All for national security... nothing else.

nickslaughter02

A few people mention EU. Let me remind you: > European Commission Revives Push for Encryption Backdoors in ProtectEU Strategy, Framing Mass Surveillance as “Lawful Access” https://reclaimthenet.org/eu-protecteu-strategy-encryption-b...

hno8a34nwn

Adding this to my reading list

mdp2021

Inconsistent with the implicit acceptance of age verification laws (forbidding YouTube to minors, may Diderot and D'Alembert and all the democratizers of knowledge raise from their graves and sneer and taunt). Or was there a large turomoil against keir starmer that did not properly reach the news?