The founder of the world wide web has sounded a warning about the dangers posed by governments intent on increasing the level of monitoring and filtering of the online activity of its citizens.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee said that while it was important to fight serious organised crime and for a state to defend itself against cyber attack, there were enormous negatives associated with excessive government oversight of the internet.
That [stored] information is so dangerous, you have to think of it as dynamite.
“The whole thing seems to me fraught with massive dangers and I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said in Sydney on Tuesday in reply to a question about the Australian government’s data retention plan.
Red flag … Sir Tim Berners-Lee (right) and Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy in Sydney on Tuesday. Photo: Brendan Esposito
Sir Tim was speaking at the launch of the CSIRO’s $40 million Digital Productivity and Services Flagship, a research facility focused on facilitating the growth of the digital economy and exploiting the full potential of the National Broadband Network. READ MORE
