<i>&gt; Do they really seek to convince us that the UK authorities are &quot;exploiting&quot; terrorist attacks</i><p>Yes I&#x27;d suggest they&#x27;re doing just that.  After all, you&#x27;re more likely to die as a result of a lightning strike or accident with household furniture than be victim of a terrorist attack.<p>It seems as though there has been a sustained effort to move the Overton Window[1] towards the acceptance of ever more onerous restrictions on freedom.  The Daily Mail is more than happy to take this line, as they have since their founding.<p>It&#x27;s interesting to remember that at the end of WW2 the UK abolished dumb cardboard identity cards as they were seen to be an infringement of civil liberties.<p><i>If it saves one life for the a GCHQ analyst to see all my inane texts ...</i><p>Do you want to keep anything at all private?  Do you trust every GHCQ and government employee?  There have already been cases of abuse.<p>See:  <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;jacquesmattheij.com&#x2F;if-you-have-nothing-to-hide" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;jacquesmattheij.com&#x2F;if-you-have-nothing-to-hide</a><p>From a security point of view there appears to be little benefit either.  How many recent events were revealed to have been discussed on Twitter or Facebook, yet all these various surveillance schemes didn&#x27;t prevent them happening.  In which case, what&#x27;s the point?  In fact, in more than one case the perpetrator was already on some security watch list.<p>I submit that the government <i>should</i> be able to monitor my communications etc, if and only if <i>I am suspected of a crime</i> and a warrant to do so is obtained beforehand.  Blanket surveillance is counter productive and, crucially, ineffective.<p>In the event my phone, for instance, cannot be accessed they should ask me for access as is already on the statute book.  A backdoor into devices will be hacked and on the net in remarkably short order.<p>[1] Overton Window is the range of ideas the public will accept.  See: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Overton_window" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Overton_window</a>