I've mentioned before on these pages that I've been trying for some time to relocate to the Cayman Islands, to join my girlfriend who located there from Edmonton some years ago. I've also mentioned my attempt to prepare for the new political culture by reading the CayPolitics website on a semi-regular basis.
The site had been down for some time, as legal issues complicated the operation of the site. But it's back up and running, has a cleaner look, and managed to return in time to scare the crap out of me with the government's "Terrorism Bill".
Section 55 of the [Terrorism] Bill would permit the Governor of the Cayman Islands to request the interception of telecommunications by service providers. Such Powers would give the Governor the authority to request any telecommunication company to intercept or �tap� the telephone or other telecommunication devices of a user, whether it is a local or a foreigner utilizing the services here in the Cayman Islands.I'm going to spend some time today looking for more information on this bill, including this section. Will the Governor have to retroactively defend a wiretap order in court? Will the surveilled eventually be informed that his or her privacy has been invaded? Does there need to be actual suspicion of terrorist activities to decide to wiretap, or can the Governor pretty much have at 'er with anyone he might suspect of smoking pot or being gay?
The garbage that governments around the world have been trying to get away with under the guise of "fighting terrorism" is shameful. Anyone watching the American experience with the Patriot Act knows that undermining civil liberties doesn't make anyone safer. It just makes government more intrusive.
Someone local to the Cayman Islands needs to be asking these questions. With any luck, I can make a living being that someone, some day.
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