GCHQ Data-Tapping

Before you read this, I'm just going to say that I'm going to play Devil's Advocate - meaning that I'm arguing a point of view that isn't necessarily my own.  If you agree or don't agree with what I'm writing here, I'd really welcome comments explaining your reasoning in the nature of an honest debate (abusive comments will be deleted if I can work out how to do that).

If you've got nothing to hide, why would you mind about who's reading what you're writing or listening to what you're saying?  GCHQ might be a branch of the "corrupt and obviously untrustworthy" Government, but weren't they trying to protect us?

We're protected by a freedom of speech, so in all fairness we can say whatever we like publicly, and we can't be prosecuted for it (as long as we're not being racist, sexist, terrorist, homophobic, etc).  And I really doubt that the government cares that you're texting your mum about the fact you need more shampoo - what they care about is if your next door neighbour is planning a terrorist attack on a nearby primary school.

In this case, you could probably call yourself collateral damage - yes, it's a shame that the government has been looking through your dubious internet history, but if - as a result of doing this to everybody - they catch a few would-be-mass-murderers, then I can't see why there should be a massive problem.

Public opinion is that this is something that is inherently wrong, and that the government has no right to access the personal data that they have been - but I'd argue in this case that if you're doing something that somebody bound by confidentiality shouldn't see, you probably shouldn't be doing it.  You can be outraged all you like about the Government sticking their noses into your business, but it was perfectly legal when it was done, and it was done in the public interest.

Like I said, please comment with your thoughts and ideas about the issue below - thanks for reading!