A lot more than it did yesterday. That's because, from today, information about every internet user in the UK will be stored, as part of a government scheme to keep hold of data about people's activities.
It's the result of a European directive which has been slowly introduced to the UK since 2007 - all in an attempt to help law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Phone companies are already compelled to retain information about the calls you make - whether from your landline phone or your mobile (although the details of your calls are not kept). But now internet service providers will be storing specific data for up to 12 months - with the costs of doing so being covered by the Home Office.
Among the information that will now be kept about your online activities:
· The user ID that identifies you to your ISP, as well as your telephone number and the IP address of your computer
· The name and address of the internet subscriber who is responsible for that telephone number and IP address
· The details - such as user ID, telephone number or address - of anybody you contact through email or using an internet telephony service such as Skype
· The details of any time that you go online, as well as specific details of any time you log into an email service or internet telephony system
The actual content of your emails, internet calls and activity are not retained, however.
