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UK police ask Internet cafes to monitor users

Internet cafe users in the British capital may want to watch what they download.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Internet cafe users in the British capital may want to watch what they download.

Scotland Yard is advising administrators of public Web spaces to periodically poke through their customers' files.

The London-based police force says it's more of an awareness drive than a surveillance campaign — but civil libertarians aren't happy.

Privacy activist Simon Davies says people should not have their Web use monitored at Internet cafes any more than public pay phones users should have their calls listened in on.

But Scotland Yard noted Thursday that several terror plotters have used Internet cafes to coordinate planned attacks.

Posters and screen savers with the Scotland Yard logo are also being installed at cafes that sign up to the plan.