Big Brother gets a licence to snoop

A breakthrough international treaty to tackle the growing threat of cyber-crime has received a mixed reception in the UK.

While many welcomed the Council of Europe initiative, which was signed by 30 countries in Budapest on Friday, others are concerned it marks a further move toward "Big Brother" policing on the internet.

Signatories include all EU states, other European countries as well as Canada, Mexico and the US.

The treaty requires all countries to put in place legislation facilitating the capture and retention of private electronic data where necessary for criminal investigations.

Caspar Bowden, director of internet think-tank the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), said he had profound concerns about the legislation.

He told silicon.com: "This will require new laws in the UK on data preservation, potentially allowing the police access to more data than they can currently get even with RIP."

Bowden added that the Bill had been drafted in secret and without consultation with industry and other interest groups.

The Bill also gives scope for countries to extradite people for prosecution under crimes which do not necessarily exist in their country of residence.

Although primarily aimed at combating hackers and pornographers, this means the US could potentially enforce its controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act on UK citizens.

Richard Boothroyd, principal security consultant for ICL, said: "This makes the treaty more far-reaching than most people realise. Alongside its recent anti-terror legislation, it's clear the US wants to be the world's cyber policeman and this helps it achieve that."

However, others were more positive.

Mike Pullen, partner at law firm DLA, said: "Undoubtedly there are things to iron out but overall it's a step forward. Considering the mood in many areas since 11 September this is far less draconian than it could have been."

Moves to tackle internet crimes are gathering pace. The EU is set to look further at the issue of cybercrime in a special EU forum tomorrow bringing together service providers, law enforcement, privacy protection authorities and civil liberties organisations.

In the UK tomorrow, the National High-Tech Crime Unit is due to have a first meeting with representatives of the UK internet industry to thrash out policy and best practice in the area.