The long arm of the net

Ever had this feeling you're being watched? that's because you are. On 24 October, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) became law, giving the Government the power to snoop on all electronic communications - your e-mail, websites, on-line shopping, banking, newsgroups, everything.

Home Secretary David Blunkett has also introduced the Emergency Anti-Terrorism Bill, which would require internet service providers to record the e-mail addresses of everyone you communicate with for 12 months.

And it gets worse. The Home Office says the powers will not be restricted to dealing with national security issues, so the data could be used to investigate everything from parking fines to TV licence dodgers.

But if I've done nothing wrong, surely I have nothing to worry about?
Unfortunately, you have. The RIPA also includes powers to combat the use of encryption by criminals, the theory being that if the police can unscramble evildoers' messages, we won't get another 11 September. Under the Act, the police can demand any message is decrypted, regardless of whether the sender is suspected of a crime. So if you've scrambled a message and forgotten or lost the decryption key, you could face up to two years in jail.

Is there no defence?
There's no way of telling what's in an encrypted message without opening it, so the court will not know whether you're a villain or just plain dumb.

How will they intercept all these messages?
ISPs will have to install electronic eavesdropping equipment at their own expense - AOL Europe reckons it will have to store about 25 billion internet addresses every year. Some ISPs may have to shut down, while others will pass the cost to their customers in the form of higher prices.

So it's bad for business?
Yes. The British Chambers of Commerce say RIPA could costs British business £46 billion in the first five years.

Will the RIPA help stop terrorism?
The Government seems to think so, but no one else does. Terrorists are hardly going to take part in any Governmentapproved encryption scheme and would not surrender decryption keys that would reveal crucial evidence. The biggest losers are law-abiding net users - the RIPA compromises security and privacy.

Are the lawmakers doing anything good for us?
You could soon be getting less spam. The European Commission has proposed a ban on unsolicited commercial e-mail after figuring that it costs net users 10,000 million euros (about £6,200m) a year in wasted time and resources. The E-Privacy Directive Proposal was to have made it illegal to send junk mail without the recipient's prior consent - users would have to "opt in" to receive spam. As if anyone would do that.

What do you mean "was"?
In the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs report, an amendment favouring an "opt-out" was passed, allowing firms to send spam unless consumers asked not to receive it. Clearly, this contradicted the earlier decision.

How can I stop spam in the meantime?
Join the European Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail (EuroCAUCE), which wants to wrest control of your mailbox back from the spammers. And install an anti-spam program on your computer (details below).

What about cookies?
MEPs say cookies violate the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. They want websites to make users give "explicit, prior consent" every time a cookie is used. Companies therefore wouldn't be able to use cookies to track every on-line move without you knowing, but you'd have to remember passwords and usernames for all the sites you visit.

Is that really necessary?
No. Cookies make it easier to shop on-line and get person-alised content. Consumers are protected by the 1998 Data Protection Act, which gives them the right to prevent their data being processed for direct marketing. If the data controllers don't comply with the Act, you can claim compensation for damages and distress.

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