Did GCHQ illegally spy on you?
privacyinternational.orgAt a glance the signup form looks like it's a form to check if you've been spied on. It redflagged in my mind as that seems like a silly thing to fill out
Looks a bit dodgy. At least if nothing else Betteridge's law of headlines says I've not been spied on, which is a relief!
It is no dodgier than the revelation that spy agencies (along with many other organisations) create sock puppet accounts[0] to manipulate public opinion on sites just like this.
Looking at the form I see two boxes left un-ticked by default, requiring manual opt-in, which to me looks pretty good from a privacy perspective. I also see the full name, postal address, telephone number, and registered charity number just below in the footer.
Maybe my definition of 'dodgy' is different from yours, because the only dodgy thing I see is the illegal spying being called out.
It's a free country though, so you are free to be extra cautious and to do nothing and hope the problem goes away some day. Also, I guess I should point out I'm a paid-up member of Privacy International so not exactly unbiased here. So far so good, no drone strikes or black helicopters yet and I sleep well at night.
[0]http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-ope...
The corollary of the "nothing to hide" argument is that many will see this as a list of people with "stuff to hide", rather than a list of outraged citizens.
I may have "nothing to hide" but I sometimes send and receive sensitive information I wouldn't want leaked by an incompetent/malicious intelligence agent or hacked from their databases by a third party.
OOOOO! The Opposite of Betterridge!
Did XXX spy on you illegally?
Always answer yes.