Like, woah

There are apparently some new requirements coming in if you want to visit the US from Britain. But something in this story in the Guardian totally shocked me.

“Britons already have their credit card details and email accounts inspected by the American authorities following a deal between the EU and the Department of Homeland Security. Now passengers face having all their credit card transactions traced when using one to book a flight. And travellers giving an email address to an airline will be open to having all messages they send and receive from that address scrutinised”.

So US authorities are already permitted to inspect credit card details and email accounts for anyone visiting the US from Britain, pursuant to a deal done with the EU, and now just dealing with an airline by email means that US authorities can inspect all messages to and from that address and if you pay by card they can review all transactions on your account?! Sorry for all the emphasis, but holy shit. Did I miss the memo on this? Isn’t that, like, a bit of an invasion of privacy if there’s, say, no actual evidence whatsoever that you might have done anything wrong?

Labels: law, news, war on terror