In December 2003 a Newton Committee Report in the Anti Terrorism , Crime and Security Act 2000 (ATCS) (which is required by law) made several clear statements about the over use of powers by governments.
It stated that:
“Giving the authorities untrammelled powers to exercise against suspected terrorists may seem reasonable in the heat of the moment, until they are exercised against the wrong people (perhaps through mistaken identity rather than mischief) and those at the wrong end of them find that the procedures for redress are inadequate. The case of the 72-year-old British man held in a South African prison for nearly three weeks in an identity
mix-up by the FBI earlier this year illustrates the point in a non-terrorist context.
The report also states that:
“Nor do more extensive powers always lead to greater public safety. The East German Government may have had files on a quarter of their population, but it failed to predict or prevent its own demise.“
April 6, 2009 at 5:09 pm
[...] for data retention, though it is currently voluntary. The powers under this act have been condemned for overuse, even by the current [...]