Is it feasible? Yes, it is; the information the proposal would require storage of is really only header information (the dates, times, IP adresses, phone numbers, and so on of electronic communications, not the content of the communications)--with as cheap as mass storage is, and given the fact that this would require ISPs and telephone companies to shoulder the burden of keeping the record, it's certainly feasible. In fact, it's not even that difficult.
Not the contents, so that's ok then?
Nope. It's not OK at all; just technically trivial to implement.
Which is one of the things that makes it even scarier. From a technical standpoint, it is embarrassingly easy to do.
It's scary as hell, though. If past history is any indication, the UK government would pass such a measure as an anti-terrorism law and then use it for everything but.
It's potentially as scary as hell. It's potentially a breathtaking invasion of privacy. But there is no concept of privacy any more, it seems, or rights to such. As I said before, they've won. Everyone suffers because of a few brainwashed murdering robots in the name of what? Religion?
To be fair, it really doesn't matter why the people who commit these acts are doing it. Religion is a very popular reason for people to commit acts of atrocity, no doubt about it--but people can and have done the same thing for political, social, and economic reasons as well.
The world has changed and for the worse. I despair sometimes and can feel myself turning into one of those "shut the doors and leave me in peace" hermits, near-permanently enraged and depressed at what they have done to so many hitherto cheerful and optimistic souls.
The world has changed, both for the better and for the worse. Sure, there are many nations where the basic foundations of privacy and liberty are under attack, but that comes and goes in cycles; remember the 1940s and 1950s in the US? The Red Scare, where eating at the wrong diner or knowing the wrong person could have you branded a 'communist' and blacklisted? The pendulum swings back and forth, but each time I think the backward swing doesn't go quite as far and the forward swing goes a little further.
Hell, you can rightly say that privacy is under attack, but prior to the 20th century you could reasonably argue that privacy didn't exist at all! And what rights did a Medieval serf have?
The Brits (and I am one) are particularly pisswilly about their loss of freedom. I'd rather live somewhere where people get up and shout "I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT TAKING ANY MORE OF THIS!" The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has something to do with this line of thought.
Give it time. The pendulum will swing forward again. People who are frightened, whether it be of Communists or terrorists, are easily manipulated and easily abused, but the blind panic never lasts forever.
