‘We’ll end snooping by state’
SENIOR Tories will today unveil plans to curb the spread of the so-called “surveillance state”.
A report by Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve accuses Labour of encouraging a massive rise in intrusion into privacy.
It calls for strengthened laws on data protection and a reduction in the number of Government databases full of information about citizens.
In the report, Mr Grieve said: “Labour has relied on mammoth databases and data sharing on the pretext that it will make the Government more effective and the citizen more secure.
“Its track record demonstrates the opposite, with intrusive and expensive databases gathering personal information, but handled so recklessly that we are exposed to greater risk.”
Alex Deane, director of the anti-snooping campaign organisation Big Brother Watch, said: “It’s good that the Conservatives are alive to the Government’s excessive surveillance.”