The new powers are not so much about the content (yet) as about establishing the connections and networks between people—guilt by association. Your emails may not contain illicit or illegal content, but if you've been sending them to someone who is under investigation, or someone who is, in turn, in contact with someone under investigation then you will be investigated too. The records will show that you're part of their network, and you will then have to prove that your connection is innocent. As Dr Mohamed Haneef found in the wake of the London nightclub and Glasgow airport bombings, guilt by association is very hard to disprove. In my own case, my electronic records would show I'm in contact with radical animal rights activists, pro-Palestine activists, at least one member of the BNP, a number of Muslims (several of whom are very devout), a Jewish anarchist, and a couple of criminals. On the other hand, my electronic records would also show that I'm in contact with quite a few MPs and members of their teams, a grab-bag of police officers, soldiers and airmen, several solicitors, assorted movers and shakers in the media, and a judge. My electronic contacts even include people in Downing Street. On top of that, I'm also in electronic contact with hundreds of people of whom I have little background knowledge, so who knows what they do or are up to. Under the new laws, I'm going to look very interesting indeed to any investigator who happens to find me while trawling through the records. And by visiting this blog, I'm connecting all those people to Tom and, in turn, to you and every other person who reads this. Including you, StJohnMedic. Yes, it's all starting to look like a massive conspiracy...