New bugging laws - Be discrete

In a society so comfortable with discretion bordering on secrecy it may be difficult to grasp the full extent of how the minutiae of our lives can be trawled by the algorithms driving social media and so much more of today’s communications technologies.

Secrecy or even basic privacy is almost as rare as solitude; everything we do online is visible to anyone who really wants to see it as long as they have the right tools and expertise.

The Government has made proposals around new bugging laws but the State’s human rights watchdog is worried the changes might lead to a surge in requests from domestic or foreign security agencies to pry on telephone and online communications.