An estimated three billion e-mails are sent daily.  Government ministers are considering a £12bn programme to monitor the electronic communication activity of every person in Britain.

To facilitate the programme, a large central computer database would need to be created to store the communications traffic data.  The £12bn estimated outlay would far outweigh the proposed cost of the ID cards programme.

The plan behind the scheme is to counter terrorism and organised crime.  However, critics describe the plan as "sinister", the scheme being another step towards a surveillance society.If passed however, the plan would enable the Government listening post, GCHQ, to monitor internet and mobile 'phone networks. 

What has this got to do with search? Given the growing importance of search engines over the past decade, our search patterns will unlike any time in history give the Government complete access to our thoughts, ideas and desires...the "Database of Intentions" as John Battelle refers to it.

No decision has been made as of yet, but more details are due next month.