Half a million people spied on a year

"An average of about 1,500 surveillance requests were made every day in Britain last year, according to figures which have emerged from an annual report by commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy.

That is the annual equivalent to one in every 78 adults being targeted." However these requests for surveillance are mostly being used by Local Councils to combat littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling (From BBC News). This is not the first time local councils have been accused of abusing the power they have. These powers were brought in to combat serious crime and terrorism after all, but instead people pursue these things.

In other abuses of power, the Police have been advised to ignore the Human Rights Commitee ruling that they should not keep DNA samples if the person is wrongfully arrested or released without charge. They are currently digging in their heels and getting the Government to prepare legislation to get around this.

As Chris Huhne, Home Affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats states "It is not up to police forces to ignore court judgments because they or their masters do not like them." (Guardian).