UK government started online mass surveillance after 9/11 -- but few politicians knew

By Mark Wilson
 
On Wednesday, the Investigatory Powers Bill was published in draft form, but it was in the wake of 9/11 that the UK government started its mass surveillance programs, spying on the online activities of British citizens. Under the guise of the 1984 Telecommunications Act, this surveillance was moved up a gear in 2005. Former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says that very few politicians knew about it.
Clegg only learned of the surveillance programs that were used to harvest emails, phone records, and texts in 2010, and questioned whether it was necessary. The former PM makes the revelations in an article for the Guardian in which he says that after Edward Snowden NSA and GCHQ spying revelations, "the knee-jerk response from the government was to play the man and ignore the ball".
 Clegg and his part of the coalition government were instrumental in blocking the progress of the snooper's charter which ultimately led to the draft Investigatory Powers Bill. He admits that the new bill is "far from perfect" and expresses concern that there has been insufficient meaningful scrutiny.
 
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