That union scrutiny activity turned into black listing, meaning many workers were denied jobs. A secret McCarthy-esque activity. This black listing was so severe it lead to laws being brought in around data protection. Those laws originally only covered computer systems. Because the black lists were run on index cards the laws were changed to cover more forms of data retention. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02xcn7d
Abuses of surveillance are common, and long lasting.
The BBC had political vetting. http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.page9...
Special Branch spied on an elected member of parliament http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/true_spies/2378459.stm
Unions in the 70s had extensive networks of police informants and undercover officers and agents provocateurs. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/12/spie-d10.html
That union scrutiny activity turned into black listing, meaning many workers were denied jobs. A secret McCarthy-esque activity. This black listing was so severe it lead to laws being brought in around data protection. Those laws originally only covered computer systems. Because the black lists were run on index cards the laws were changed to cover more forms of data retention. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02xcn7d
Abuses of surveillance are common, and long lasting.