The revelations in The Guardian about widespread phone tapping impact on the average member of the public more than most people realise. Most of you would think, just like me, that phone tapping is associated with computer whizzes or wannabe spies.
However believe it or not, phone tapping can be carried out by anyone who has access to a mobile phone from the same network as the target. The whole practice relies upon the fact that to connect to a voicemail account, you do not need to be using the correct phone for access.
Most rely upon a password system. Now I will confess myself as someone who has never reset their password when they change phones. This means that anyone can gain access to your voicemail because the default pin codes are very basic combinations of 1s, 2s, 3s and 4s (with the defaults varying on different networks). If you have never changed your password, your voicemail is very easily accessible.
This raises wider issues of privacy in general. In many ways it offers a stark contrast to what the MP’s scandal taught us. In that instance, people (myself included) lauded the Telegraph for publishing illegally obtained information for the good of the public.
But where do you draw the line?
Unfortunately, it may be a case of taking the rough with the smooth. Shocking though it may be, we might have trust to the conscience of the journalist. Call me immoral, but surely it better to have things like the expenses scandal exposed than celebrity gossip hushed up. I cannot see a way in which you can have one without the other.
This is a global story now. Rupert Murdoch and all his millions stretch far beyond these white shores. The United States, in particular, has shown a keen interest in the story. This has been fuelled by Murdoch’s recent acquisition of the Wall Street journal.
What started as a flash in the pan with Clive Goodman being sentenced to jail in 2007 for phone tapping the royals has spun out of control for Murdoch and his minions. Because the abuse is apparently so widespread, Andy Coulson, now the Conservatives director of communications (and formerly the editor of the News of the World), has faced fresh calls to stand down. At the moment Cameron is backing him. But this story has proven that it has legs.
The only question is how far will it continue to run?
Joe Masi writes a weekly blog published every Monday on www.marketdraytonadvertiser.com
