WHEN it comes to spying on emails and online behaviour, the British government is particularly well placed. A new analysis suggests that more internet traffic passes through the UK than any other country bar the US.
Josh Karlin of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and colleagues examined the way international internet traffic is transmitted around the globe (). From this they 鈥� a 0-to-1 scale in which a country that routes all international traffic would score 1. The US came out top with a CC of 0.74. The UK and Germany followed with scores of 0.29 and 0.25.
There is no evidence that these countries are likely to use their position to filter or block internet content in the way that China or Iran do, but they are thought to be using it to their advantage to listen in on emails and other online chat.
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Concern about the capabilities of British spooks was heightened last month when it emerged that the UK government is considering asking Facebook and other social networking sites to hand over details about their users and the online friends they are linked to. The plan is part of the government鈥檚 proposed Intercept Modernisation Programme, under which it is likely that web-page requests, emails and other traffic through the UK鈥檚 ISPs will be monitored.
While intelligence agencies in the UK and US are unwilling to discuss details of the internet surveillance they carry out, information from whistle-blowers has revealed that both nations routinely monitor the cables that carry voice and computer data. The Bush administration, for example, authorised the US National Security Agency to tap international email and phone conversations.
Sitting on top of so much international traffic is a 鈥済ift鈥� to the UK and US, says Ian Brown of the in the UK.
