HMRC can now view your internet history

[tl97]

HMRC can now view your internet history:

Everyone who can now see your entire internet history, including the taxman, DWP and Food Standards Agency | The Independent

It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

HMRC can now view your internet history:

Everyone who can now see your entire internet history, including the taxman, DWP and Food Standards Agency | The Independent

It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Well, not yet anyway. Who knows how long it will take ISPs and anyone else who can be deemed a CSP to update their systems to track this stuff.

I'm still trying to weigh up using a commercial VPN service or setting up OpenVPN on a VPS somewhere.

[Lance]

I'm still trying to weigh up using a commercial VPN service or setting up OpenVPN on a VPS somewhere.

from what I heard they are just tracking the site not the content. That suggests to me a hostname or DNS entry.
If true then a simple proxy will be sufficient to hide. The draft bill doesn't have a great deal of technical information.

[BrilloPad]

Soon they will want sites and content. So when HMRC take you to court they know what your defence is.

KIng John is looking down and wondering why he could not defeat Magna Carta so easily.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

from what I heard they are just tracking the site not the content. That suggests to me a hostname or DNS entry.
If true then a simple proxy will be sufficient to hide. The draft bill doesn't have a great deal of technical information.

Maybe. Regardless of whether you use a proxy or a VPN, you will want to use one that is outside of UK jurisdiction (its very likely UK VPN/proxy providers would be considered a CSP and need to keep logs) and one that you trust not to keep any logs that it could be forced to share with law enforcement.

[gables]

There's no detail, but let's speculate, will it be down to house\ip address? as I can't see how they'll know who in the house looked at what...

[VectraMan]

There's no detail, but let's speculate, will it be down to house\ip address? as I can't see how they'll know who in the house looked at what...

Every house will be required to keep logs...

[Lance]

If you allow your wife and kids to use your connection are you a provider?
What about Starbucks WiFi?
I can't get over the feeling that they've not thought this through properly.

[DaveB]

There's no detail, but let's speculate, will it be down to house\ip address? as I can't see how they'll know who in the house looked at what...

IP address that will be resolved to a customer account, which will turn up a name and address for the bill payer.

It won't, at least to begin with, be used to do real time monitoring for people Googleing "how to build a bomb". Once they have a suspect identified through other channels it will be used to build a case and gather intelligence by examining the history associated with the connection they have use of.

Of course, since the world and his arthritic, incontinent Labrador will have access, you can be suspected of pretty much anything, by anyone, to justify poking through the log files.

So yes, HMRC could decide you are a filthy tax avoider and use the bill to gain access to your history to see if you have been visiting sites associated with tax schemes, advice, accountancy etc.

[DaveB]

If you allow your wife and kids to use your connection are you a provider?
What about Starbucks WiFi?
I can't get over the feeling that they've not thought this through properly.

No.

It will be whoever Starbucks gets their connection from.

They thought through what they wanted to be able to do and balanced it against what they thought they could get away with. Which turns out to be more than they expected.