Famous Five In Arms for Data Protection

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo! - arguably the five biggest names on the Internet - have written to UK Home Secretary Theresa May, warning they will not co-operate with plans to store personal data on online behaviour, according to a letter leaked in The Guardian newspaper.

Legislation to compel the firms to store the personal data of UK-based Internet users for a full 12 months was shelved in April when Deputy PM Nick Clegg said he would block what has been described as a 'Snooper's Charter'. However, plans for the 'charter' are apparently being revived after the murder of a member of the armed forces in Woolwich earlier this month increased pressure to back the surveillance efforts of security services.

The letter, which is said to have been written but not sent in April, describes plans to monitor web, email and social media use for the UK public as both 'expensive to implement and highly contentious' with 'potentially seriously harmful consequences', and adds, 'There are risks in legislating too early in this fast-moving area that can be as significant as the risks of legislating too late.' It hints at the potential for a 'chaotic world' in which each country imposes its own demands on companies regarding the storage of personal data and other sensitive areas.

The five companies and the Home Office have so far refused to comment on the letter.

Pictured: Theresa May, image courtesy of the Home Office.