The Investigatory Powers Act aka the Snooper’s Charter
The Snooper’s Charter is one of the most atrocious legislations in UK history due to the restrictions it places on the personal freedoms of everyone it affects. Also known as the Draft Communications Data Bill, the Investigatory Powers Act makes it legal for the government to spy on you and have access to a lot of data.
We will take you through some of the Provisions found in the UK Snooper’s Charter and mention how they affect your online communications. We will also guide you through the process of protecting your anonymity and privacy by using a VPN. A VPN is a very reliable way to combat Snooper’s Charter, and we will also recommend a specific ‘Snooper’s Charter VPN’ that can guarantee your safety.
Snooper’s Charter explained
Let us explain the act in a simple phrase. ‘Nothing you do online is truly private anymore’. Although Theresa May wanted to update outdated laws, the ‘Theresa May Snooping Charter’ did nothing more essentially strips away a lot of your freedoms and makes you constantly wonder if you are being watched.
The UK Snooper’s Charter act was met with a lot of resistance, But the government passed the law, and now you need to have a VPN if you want to have any semblance of privacy in your online activity.
Draft Communications Data Bill Provisions
The bill has a lot of provisions which you need to be wary of. It allows the UK intelligence agencies as well as law enforcement to intercept communications easily. Not only can they target specific individuals, but they can also access online communications in bulk and go through the data.
According to the UK snooping charter, your ISPs must maintain a record of your internet connection and can be compelled by UK law to share it with the police and other intelligence agencies. Not only that, but the ISPs are legally obligated to assist any law enforcement authority with the targeted interception of your data. In case you are wondering, yes, it is legal for the police to hack into your phones and computers.
The Hypocrisy of Snooper’s Charter explained
Although the surveillance act UK claims to be very transparent and allow people to feel safe, it also makes it a criminal offence if someone tries to access another user’s internet data unlawfully. Just imagine, it is okay for the government to look at anyone’s internet history but not for you to look at someone else’s. It is almost as if they realise how intrusive this act is.
On top of that, it is also not legal for your ISPs to let you know if the authorities have requested your data. The Theresa May snooping charter ran into a lot of trouble mainly because of these two provisions, as they confirmed that the government had drawn certain lines that only it was going to cross.
Combatting the UK Surveillance Act
The Snooper’s Charter is definitely something that you should be worried about. However, one of the great things about technology is that there is always something better. In the case of the Snooper’s Charter, you can use a VPN to hide most of what you do from your ISP, law enforcement, and the government at large.
A Virtual Private Network essentially sends and receives all of your internet traffic through a secure server that is hosted at a location of your choice. A VPN which is not hosted in the UK cannot be compelled to reveal anything about you, thus ensuring your privacy.
On top of that, the best VPNs currently available in the market do not track your internet history which is another guarantee of your online anonymity. One question that might be on your mind is ‘Are VPNs legal in the UK?’, let’s go ahead and take a look.
Are VPNs legal in the UK?
If you want a straightforward answer, you can use a VPN in the UK. There is no law or provision in any UK act which forbids you from routing your internet through a secure server hosted at a remote location. You can use a VPN without any worry for repercussions.
As we have stated above, you need to make sure that the VPN provider that you select is not a UK based company. The UK Snooper’s Charter now legally allows the government to force corporations to hand over personal browsing history of anyone they want.
To be sure of your privacy, it is essential to have a VPN that does not log any of your activity. Let’s take a look at the best VPN for Snooper’s Charter and what is it that makes it stand out from the rest.
Snooper’s Charter VPN
If the main reason for you using a VPN is to combat the Snooper’s Charter, then we recommend you use NordVPN, which is one of the leading VPN providers in the world. The main reason that it stands out is the fact that it has excellent security as well as top-notch privacy practices.
NordVPN offers you amazing features such as the ability to have your traffic routed through two servers as opposed to a single one. It also has military-grade AES-256 encryption to ensure that no one can access your data even if they intercept it. If you lose your connection, you can rest easy as it has a kill switch as well as its own DNS.
Lastly, NordVPN has a minimal logging policy about which it is quite transparent. What that means is that none of your activity will be logged. However, Nord will log some aggregated data which can in no way be traced back to you.
To learn more about this VPN service, read our NordVPN review.
Conclusion
The Surveillance Act UK is definitely something that can massively intrude into your personal life if you do not do anything about it. One of the good things is that the act does not outlaw the use of VPNs, which you can use to almost completely negate all of the changes that have been bought about by the Act. Using NordVPN or any other competing service should be enough for you to enjoy complete anonymity online.
