The British government unveiled its plan to “drag British intelligence gathering into the  21st  century”  by tightening up surveillance of the internet. Under the most controversial measure in a draft bill launched in parliament this week , phone and internet companies would  be forced to keep for a year a record of whom their customers have called and what websites they’ve visited. Security services could  then access that data. Police and intelligence agencies say they need these extra powers to combat terrorists and cyber crooks.  But critics claim this is “a breathtaking attack on Britain’s civil liberties.”

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