Musings of a Libertarian

Last week Apple rolled over to a government demand to remove ADP (Advanced Data Protection) for users in the UK. In simple terms, this means that anything stored or passing through an Apple device in the UK is no longer encrypted: i.e. completely free to access not only by law enforcement and The State, but private criminals with even a basic understanding of technology. In the background, Labour have also been pushing the "Data Use and Access Bill," (an add-on to the Orwellian Online "Safety" Act) which will purportedly boost economic growth and improve public services. One of the main provisions of The "Data Use and Access Bill" is that police services will no longer be required to log the reasons why they access personal data. Yes, you read that correctly- Two Tier Kier is now not only permitting the police to access our documents and communications, but to do so without justifying themselves. Interesting timing given what has just happened to Apple. Th...

Vance's scathing speech in Munich last week was just what the doctor ordered for a continent increasingly sliding towards authoritarianism. Unfortunately, Europe wasn't listening. Vance began by reminding those present that the principles of liberty and free speech are common values (formerly) shared on both sides of The Atlantic, and shared his worry about Europe's retreat from such values. He told a shocked audience that Europe's greatest threat comes not from China or Russia, but from within. While Europe has not (yet) mastered China's digital Police State nor the art of the spontaneous defenestration of dissidents, Vance fired off countless examples of State crimes against liberty across Europe, including the imprisonment of Adam Smith-Connor, the Scottish government criminalising private prayer at home and the incarceration of many more - simply for exercising their right to free speech. This was followed by an admonishment of the German government's arroga...

Last week The i newspaper learnt that China is set to be exempted from Starmer's new "Foreign Influence Registration Scheme." From the i: 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘱𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 (𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘚). 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪...