As the World Wide Web celebrates its 25th birthday today, its inventor is calling for a widening of users’ rights.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee this morning spoke on BBC Breakfast about the creation of a bill of rights to protect users.
He told the television audience that the online community has reached a crossroads.
“It’s time for us to make a big communal decision. In front of us are two roads – which way are we going to go? Are we going to continue on the road and just allow the governments to do more and more and more control – more and more surveillance?
“Or are we going to set up a bunch of values? Are we going to set up something like a Magna Carta for the World Wide Web and say, actually, now it’s so important, so much part of our lives, that it becomes on a level with human rights?”
Berners-Lee says the Internet should be a natural medium, and users should not fear that their activity is being monitored.
