Police can snoop on every email and eavesdrop on Internet phone calls under new plan

Police and security chiefs will be able to scour the contents of every email sent in Britain under a £12billion plan to be unveiled tomorrow.

The programme, known as Deep Packet Inspection, will also give them the ability to eavesdrop on phone calls made over the internet.

The proposals, which will be revealed by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, come amid increasing evidence that terror groups such as those in the Mumbai attacks are using internet telephones to avoid telephone taps on landline and mobile phones.

Deep Packet Inspection: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will reveal details of the proposal to allow police and security chiefs to scour every email and listen to phone calls made online tomorrow

Internet firms and telephone providers are already required to store details of communications using their networks for at least a year.

…

<link>