Comment Articles

Data retention may overload ISPs

Guy Kewney AnchorDesk

Published: 02 Nov 2001 15:07 GMT

Why didn't the e-Envoy's technical strategist show up at a press conference to celebrate the London Internet Exchange's birthday?

Because (suggested one of the LINX directors), "he was probably afraid you'd ask him awkward questions."

The e-Envoy himself has gone on record saying that our story, warning that the Home Office hopes to establish sweeping new powers for data snooping, is wrong.

Well, is he?

If you wanted to find a lot of people, all in the same room at the same time, and all highly qualified to talk about the Home Office and its plans for keeping Internet data for "criminal investigation purposes," you couldn't have picked a much better venue than the LINX seventh birthday party.

This party was held in London on Thursday night; and I took advantage of the nobs there to hob a few of them. People from Oftel, Government, LINX, and various ISPs from Thus downwards; people from BT, from Nortel, from networking startup Bedrock - all with good inside information.

Not a single person there believes that the Home Office is going to stop short at doing what it is legally entitled to do today - which is to retrieve billing information.