Friday, February 25, 2005
New anti-terror laws
A big issue for the UK public. The Government have rushed through anti-terror laws in an attempt to control potential terror suspects, and there are so many problems... Making law based on cases or situations is not a good idea - it is too specific and has all sorts of unintended consequences. Giving powers to elected politicians to restrain the freedoms of individuals is, fundamentally, wrong, and the separation between political and legal arenas that the UK has followed for a long while is worth retaining. The government has even got into hot water for abolishing the role of the lord Chancellor, devastating years of tradition, but it did this in a effort to separate the judicary from the political arenas. Northern Ireland terrorism never sparked such enthusiasm for giving politicians so much power.
I have little problem with allowing more evidence in courts - phone taps are a key example, but there are lots of others - and I have little problem with having an alternaltive form of court; secure, private, protecting any intelligence sources necessary - but at least a system separate from the mysterious world of politics.
Why is this relevant in an HCI blog? Well, partly cos it's my HCI blog, but also because the government keeps hiding behind technology - tracking, identify cards, and so on. Technology rarely provides a perfect solution to all problems, and certainly not to issues such as this. And if (when) it goes wrong, technology is an easy scapegoat, rather than the politician. Not the role we want technology to play in our society, I think.
A big issue for the UK public. The Government have rushed through anti-terror laws in an attempt to control potential terror suspects, and there are so many problems... Making law based on cases or situations is not a good idea - it is too specific and has all sorts of unintended consequences. Giving powers to elected politicians to restrain the freedoms of individuals is, fundamentally, wrong, and the separation between political and legal arenas that the UK has followed for a long while is worth retaining. The government has even got into hot water for abolishing the role of the lord Chancellor, devastating years of tradition, but it did this in a effort to separate the judicary from the political arenas. Northern Ireland terrorism never sparked such enthusiasm for giving politicians so much power.
I have little problem with allowing more evidence in courts - phone taps are a key example, but there are lots of others - and I have little problem with having an alternaltive form of court; secure, private, protecting any intelligence sources necessary - but at least a system separate from the mysterious world of politics.
Why is this relevant in an HCI blog? Well, partly cos it's my HCI blog, but also because the government keeps hiding behind technology - tracking, identify cards, and so on. Technology rarely provides a perfect solution to all problems, and certainly not to issues such as this. And if (when) it goes wrong, technology is an easy scapegoat, rather than the politician. Not the role we want technology to play in our society, I think.
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(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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