Britain's Blind Faith in Intelligence Agencies

[scooterscot]

For the sake of balance, an outside view of surveillance Britain.

I'm flying back this weekend, should I leave my computer in Germany - seriously?

The Cozy Relationship between Britain and its Intelligence Apparatus - SPIEGEL ONLINE

It's astonishing to see how many Britons blindly and uncritically trust the work of their intelligence service. Some still see the GCHQ as a club of amiable gentlemen in shabby tweed jackets who cracked the Nazis' Enigma coding machine in World War II.

I think what they're really saying is we're a bunch of loons.

[BrilloPad]

I think what they're really saying is we're a bunch of loons.

Maybe they extrapolated from you?

[sasguru]

The Germans are just jealous that they don't have the brains and skills to do the same.
It has been extremely embarrassing for them to see that nothing much has changed since the war when we could read most of their comms.

[doodab]

The Germans don't have the pervasive surveillance culture that we have. They don't have CCTV everywhere, and they weren't terribly keen on Google Street View.

[cailin maith]

The Germans don't have the pervasive surveillance culture that we have. They don't have CCTV everywhere, and they weren't terribly keen on Google Street View.

Do they have the same kind of street crime we do?

[Bunk]

We never had the Stasi, which would tend to make you distrust state surveillance.

[doodab]

Do they have the same kind of street crime we do?

Not as far as I am aware.

[Mich the Tester]

Do they have the same kind of street crime we do?

Only in the places the Brits go on stag nights.

[cailin maith]

Not as far as I am aware.

Maybe that explains the lack of CCTV?

I've never been to Germany so I don't know what it is like. Other Eurpoean cities don't terrify me as much as London does - odd isn't it? Do we just have all the scroats here?

[cailin maith]

Only in the places the Brits go on stag nights.