'Net is destroying civil liberties,' Blair warned

The internet will destroy civil liberties unless the UK government takes action, according to an influential New Labour think-tank.

According to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), Labour has not yet adequately addressed the political ramifications of new technologies, particularly the internet.

Dr Ian Kearns, senior research fellow of the IPPR, outlined the problem in launching policy paper, Code Red.

He claimed: "If the government doesn't explicitly defend personal liberties then these may be swept away by the growth of new technologies."

Kearns said the large amounts of data easily available, routinely stored and shared made the internet potentially a fast-track way to create a 'Big Brother' society.

Previously, the inefficiencies and expense of surveillance technologies have made this kind of outcome difficult to achieve in all but the most authoritarian regimes. The internet has changed this, he claimed.

However, Kearns said it was within legislators' power to manipulate new technology to avoid this.

He told silicon.com: "If I want better services from my government, then maybe I have to accept that the state knows more about me. However this means I need then to be more in control of the state."

Ecommerce minister Douglas Alexander, who was present at the launch of Code Red, welcomed the report but did not comment on the policy implications.

He said: "This attempt to address tech policy has real utility compared to the purely deterministic, business focus of most other thinking in this field. [But] you wouldn't expect me to agree with every policy proposal here."

The office of the e-envoy, Andrew Pinder, welcomed the findings.

Tim Hill, assistant director, electronic privacy and data sharing for Pinder, said: "It is incredibly important that everyone within government takes these issues very seriously indeed. This is not an add-on."

He said government departments were already getting the message, and pointed to a Performance and Innovation Unit report due out shortly on privacy and data-sharing as evidence.

IPPR thinking is heavily influential within government circles, and is often thought to provoke changes in Labour Party policy.

However, privacy activists claim the government is nowhere near getting the message.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: "Rather than protecting the government is systematically eroding human rights in its technology policy. There has to be a change in attitude."