Glyn Wintle, 18 December 2008
Sources also confirmed that Vodafone, along with BT, has signed on for a £1bn IMP pilot project. It's planned the "black box" data harvesters that the electronic surveillance agency GCHQ wants to deploy throughout the UK communications infastructure will be inserted in Vodafone and BT's networks initially. A Vodafone spokeswoman said: "We are not involved in any pilot programme." The probes would populate a pilot central database with details of who communicates with whom, when and where. The content of communications would not be fed to the database, but storing data about the communications of "people of interest" to law enforcement and the intelligence services, together with the black boxes, then would make wiretaps much easier to implement.Source: The RegisterBut now, industry sources sceptical about the wisdom and feasibility of IMP said its officials are effectively "fighting for their jobs" ahead of the consultation. When she decided to open a public consultation, Jacqui Smith ordered them to consider all options, including the possibility that no new system will be authorised.
