Missing data (bills)
It's not just data that goes missing, bills about data do too. The Communications Data Bill was in the , but it wasn't in today's Queen's Speech.
How the government collects and stores communications data (logs of calls, emails and webpages visited - but not their content) has been hugely controversial. In July we were told by a listener that the Home Office were considering plans to collect and store communications data in a central database. At the time the plans were condemned by as, "a step too far" In October, the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith revealed , and announced that there would be a consultation, and it seems that has resulted in a postponement of plans for a Bill.
It's a story that we're still interested in. We're also keeping an eye on another issue that listeners have alerted us to, the . Do get in touch if you've something to say about either issue.