Rights and Responsibilities By Kamil Janiga

Snoopers' Charter Snooper’s Charter or “Draft Communications Data Bill” is a new UK legislation which basically allows government to look through all of your internet browsing, social media, voice calls, emails, internet gaming and messaging services you’ve used. This data will be stored for 12 months and if asked, ISPs and mobile phone companies are required to provide the stored information to law enforcement as well as government. I personally think this law should not exist as it interrogates people’s lives. In my opinion our security should not come in the cost of our freedom. This whole operation is estimated to cost about £1.8 billion and I’m convinced that money could be spent for a better cause.

RIPA Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act aka RIPA is an Act introduced by the Parliament of the UK in the year 2000 due to a large growth of the information era . The main purpose of this law is to give law enforcement a power to investigate the suspects of crime with methods such as bugging houses or vehicles, using informers and undercover officers. They can also gain access to information about communications such as phone numbers or personal details but not the actual content of information. In my opinion this law is good for the community if it’s not abused and is only used to investigate serious criminal cases. In certain scenarios it could stop a high amount of criminal activity but it should never be abused by the law enforcement for personal gain. It’s definitely moral to save lives by investigating criminals but it’s also immoral to ruin lives by investigating petty crimes which do not directly affect any people.

Computer Misuse Act Computer Misuse Act was put into effect to prevent people at their workplace or home from gaining unauthorized access and modification of computer data. It also refers to people with intent to commit a felony through the unauthorized access to data they’ve previously gained, making their offence even stronger. In my personal opinion this law is very useful in certain scenarios where a serious felony is about to take place. If an employee wants to steal some money from a company by having access to their data, this law would come into effect. It can stop potential online thieves and more criminal activity.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act CDPA which stands for Copyright, Designs and Patents Act is a law put into effect to prevent people from stealing author’s content without their permission. This law is good to an extend as some people might abuse this law for their own personal gain. People tend to copyright almost anything they’ve ever put their hands on, making this law less rightful. However protection of new designs and patents created by individuals is very important and prevents theft of that content keeping the original author credited for his work.

Data Protection Act Data Protection Act was introduced with intent to keep living people’s personal data safe. It forces companies or individuals to anonymise people’s personal data which will be put into public’s eye. Personal data should only be transferred for lawful purposes. This law is definitely good for the community but could also be improved. Some of the data will still be abused due to lack of specific information displayed in this law. Some new laws came out since this Act to ensure better data protection for identifiable people.

Cyber Bullying Cyber bullying is an act of harassment online which is based around personal attacks on a specific person through the internet. In my opinion cyber bullying isn’t as much for a problem as it’s made out to be. Using social media is entirely optional and if a specific person harasses you, there is always an option to block them or just simply ignore these messages. If you give these people attention you will only make matters worse, so ignoring hateful messages or reporting them is the best solution. In rare cases people ended up committing suicide from allegedly cyber bullying, but the truth is we will never how would they end up if they never used social media in the first place.