As I’ve said before, prisoners are not generally allowed to sign up to social networks. But I have noticed that many of you have really helped me by tweeting my web address and drawing attention to some of my posts. I do wish I could do more myself but, since I can’t, thank you for helping.

All that said, part of me is a little relieved that I don’t have more of an online presence. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the stories that have emerged over the last few months regarding data spying both in the States and over here. One thing that struck me was the absurdity of the defence that was put up for these tactics. It basically amounted to the various security services claiming that, even though data was collected regarding thousands upon thousands of people, it was only the ‘dangerous’ people that they were really interested in. Everything else was merely white noise. That’s pretty much like saying that it’s all right that they stole your information because they don’t really want it. I’m pretty sure that if I photocopied every envelope that came through your door the police wouldn’t accept the defence that it didn’t matter because I don’t actually care.

These arguments seem so crazy to me. The other common one is the cliché that ‘if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear’. In other words, if you are fearful, you must be hiding something. And, of course, if you’re hiding something, you should really be investigated. Take that a step further and what they’re really saying is ‘if you’re scared of being persecuted, you probably deserve to be persecuted.’ Suddenly, I don’t feel so bad about not being able to go on social networks myself. Thanks for doing it for me though!