Data storage shake-up 'Orwellian'

Measures to allow government agencies access to records of emails sent, websites visited and phone calls made amount to an "exponential increase in the powers of the state", it was claimed.

Police and the security services say terrorists and organised crime gangs are becoming more and more sophisticated in the way they use new technology to evade detection. They fear that without changes to how the government monitors communications data (CD), their ability to break up terror plots and gather evidence for criminal prosecutions could be undermined.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the alternative to collecting more data was an expensive and intrusive "expansion" of surveillance. She pointed to the convictions of the July 21 bombers and Soham killer Ian Huntley as cases where electronic data collection was vital.

She said: "It may well be that the only other alternative to collecting that data would be a massive expansion of surveillance and other intrusive methods of tracking." Ms Smith added: "There are no plans for an enormous database which will contain the content of your emails, the texts that you send or the chats you have on the phone or online. Nor are we going to give local authorities the power to trawl through the database in the interests of investigating lower level criminality under the spurious cover of counter-terrorist legislation."

Measures which allow traditional phone companies to be compelled to provide information such as billing records for phone calls could be extended to other firms under the Data Communications Bill, which will go out for consultation in the New Year. Ministers are keen to stress they are not seeking bulk access to the content of emails or to record people's phone calls.

But opponents of the move fear the growth of the "Big Brother" state and question whether the government can be trusted to record personal information. Labour MP Keith Vaz said he would be asking the Home Affairs Select Committee, which he chairs, to review the proposals. He said: "Extreme caution needs to be taken when considering the extension of the State's surveillance powers."

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said the plans would mean a "substantial shift" in the state's powers. He said: "The Government must present convincing justification for such an exponential increase in the powers of the state."

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the plans were "Orwellian". "This Government has repeatedly shown that it cannot be trusted with sensitive data," he said, adding: "There is little reason to think ministers will be any less slapdash with our phone and internet records."

Gareth Crossman, policy director at Liberty, said: "There are huge dangers in the central collection of vast amounts of intimate information about everyone. The bigger the data haul, the greater the temptation to treat innocent habits as suspicious behaviour."