Councils use Big Brother anti-terror law to wage war on dog shit


The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), part of the government’s anti-terror drive, gave councils the power to use surveillance and to access phone and e-mail records. It’s also the law that makes BT’s plans to monitor every website its customers visit, in order to place targeted advertisements, illegal. Not that BT gives a damn. It’s happy to flout the law, because it’s big enough for the law not to be applied to it by its political allies. The RIPA was allegedly brought in to help fight terrorism, but Local Government Association chairman Sir Simon Milton has written to councils warning them that overzealous use of the powers could alienate the public, and not to use the anti-terror law for ‘trivial offences’ such as dog fouling.

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Monday, June 23rd, 2008

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