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1984: Alive and well in 2006

Things are probably not quite as bad in Australia yet - but headed that way - but this revealing article in The Independent on the increasing loss of liberty and privacy in the United Kingdom should be of grave concern to everyone:

"Britain has sleepwalked into becoming a surveillance society that increasingly intrudes into our private lives and impacts on everyday activities, the head of the information watchdog warns.

New technology and "invisible" techniques are being used to gather a growing amount of information about UK citizens. The level of surveillance will grow even further in the next 10 years, which could result in a growing number of people being discriminated against and excluded from society, says a report by the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas."

As coincidence will have it, Richard Ackland in his weekly column in the SMH addresses the same issue - the right to choose your own lawyer:

"We are told that all sorts of ancient conventions should be done away with because certain firm-minded persons think they are bad for us. But one of the things I don't want taken away is the right to choose my own lawyer."

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