Snooping: 48 hours to email committee

We’ve got just 48 hours to send thousands of messages to the committee of MPs with the power to derail the government’s snooping plan.

This is our big chance to influence the Committee’s report. The report could support the plans – or could say there are major problems, making it hard for the government to push ahead. The Committee is a Joint Committee set up to scrutinise the draft Communications Data Bill, chaired by Lord Blencathra. They’ve been interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence. The deadline for written submissions is Thursday 23 August.

Right now, there’s a risk that the report will focus mainly on the technical details.  Four out of five of the overall questions asked by the Committee in their call for evidence are on technical aspects of the proposals. But to derail the government’s plans, we need the report to do more than this. It needs to focus instead on the major threats to our freedoms and right to privacy.

The Committee will want to do a thorough job examining the plans. If tens of thousands of us send them emails about why we value our right to privacy, we can make sure the report asks the big questions – and that could be enough to kill the snooping plan.

Can you send a quick email to the Committee?

So far, 38 Degrees members have done an amazing job of standing up against the government’s snooping plans. Nearly 200,000 of us have signed the petition, and 70 MPs all round the country have had a copy of it hand-delivered by local 38 Degrees members.

Here’s what some 38 Degrees members have said so far about the campaign –

“Citizens should not be treated as criminals. We still live in a state where you are innocent until proven guilty. This type of surveillance casts a shadow over our freedom and makes us all look guilty before even being accused of a crime.”  – Giuseppe

“Even such a suggestion of giving such powers over to any government suggests how deeply we have strayed from democracy and basic freedoms.” – Barbara

There are just 48 hours left to get our voices heard. Can you send a message to tell the Committee why privacy matters to you?