In addition, the bill can give governments the power to demand the surrender of keys to encrypted data - a fact which has been fiercely criticized by civil liberties and business organisations alike.
Campaigners believe that there are not sufficient legal possibilities to make governments accountable for their actions: 'There's very little protection. There's no recourse if your information has been pilfered by the Government, and even if it comes to light there is very little you can do.' says Tim Berners-Lee, one of the fathers of the world wide web.
He is also concerned that third parties will be unable to monitor the authorities' actions: 'Is there any way the press can ever find out to what extent this is happening? Is there any independent agency which has the right to follow up every request and find out statistically to what extent some of these things were just abuses of power?' It is no question that lawful interception plays a crucial role in helping law enforcement agencies to combat criminal activity. Lawful Interception of public telecommunications systems in each country is based on national legislation in that country. The European Telecom Standards Institute ETSI works on standards which facilitate the lawful interception in compliance with the national and international conventions and legislation. But the new Lawful Interception Bills might do serious damage to both business and civil liberties.
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