The GCHQ’s Need for Bulk Hacking has “Evolved”

In what could be considered a corollary to The Iron Law of Data Collection¹, the UK’s GCHQ (their version of the American NSA) has informed Parliament that their use of bulk device hacking—originally promised to be used sparingly only in special cases—has “evolved”. What that means is that they’re going to do more of it. Of course they are. Just as with data collection, once something like this starts its use grows. Before long it will be the normal procedure.

If there’s one thing the nosy parkers hate, it’s not being able to stick their noses into everybody’s business. Because they find that intolerable and because the use of encryption is making it harder to do their snooping by intercepting communications, the GCHQ wants to hack into peoples computers and cell phones. They’re there and they may contain information that the authorities want to know about so we better hack them.

Sadly, the UK has already traveled well down the road the Orwell warned about. The police routinely monitor social media to make sure that no one is indulging in Bad Think™ and, really, it wouldn’t be surprising if they’re mining this type of information too. If they aren’t, you can be sure they soon will be.

Just as with data collection, the only way to end this is for the UK citizens to deliver a firm “NO” to the GCHQ.