Conservative MP warns of Privatised Big Brother State run by Internet Companies

Rob Halfon isn't happy. Speaking recently at a Big Brother Watch event, the Harlow Member of Parliament referred to Google's collation of personal information across the country using wi-fi technology in his critique of the search engine giant. Despite Google claiming they had made a mistake, Halfon isn't content with the reassurance that something similar will not happen again.

He is almost certain that there are and have been countless similar incidents of privacy invasion behind the computer screens which we, the public, and Rob Halfon, Tory MP for Harlow, do not know about.

Halfon warns that if an investigation isn't launched into the potential exposure of our private information to private internet companies, we are heading towards not only a big brother state, but one run by a “privatised version of big brother”.

It's not that Rob Halfon is anti-Google (he's “actually an enthusiast for Google products”), nor is he against private companies (he is “a Conservative, after all”), but he does believe that companies such as Google have forgotten who they are dealing with: individuals with rights.

As a champion of our rights to privacy, Halfon is determined not to allow our country to become over-regulated, nor our lives to become a constant CCTV show. Alluding to the need to continue with the progress that has been made, Halfon insisted that:

“Just as we are getting rid of the previous government’s surveillance society, we ought not to replace it with another one formed by private companies like Google.”

So, Google is just like New Labour according to Rob Halfon. Actually, this may not be too far from the truth. For instance, Google's ability to address any question with a variety of different answers is matched only by New Labour spin doctor Alistair Campbell. And doesn't Google's Chinese censorship woes mirror those felt by Gordon Brown during the 'Bigotgate' affair?

That pesky microphone is the New Labour equivalent to Google's alternative Hong Kong site; while we were granted temporary access to the uncensored thoughts of the Prime Minister, Chinese users gained access to unfiltered search results.

So what is to be done? According to Mr Halfon, an inquiry form the information commissioner is required, alongside an increased parliamentary awareness of the issue. However, the information commissioner, Christopher Graham, has already been criticised on this matter for his reluctance to “declare war” on Google, and he does not look to be changing his mind any time soon.

Thankfully, Rob Halfon is on the case: he has already put forward an Early Day Motion on the matter.