The shift....where did i see that before?

The man was not deprived of his rights. He was detained and asked to help the police with their inquiries. He cooperated. Had he refused to cooperate, he might have been arrested, and hence - by your definition - actually preserved his rights. This does not even rise to the level of a discussion.

There is no legitimate way a non-cleared person can obtain restricted information. certainly attempting to sneak it by on encrypted drives is not an indication of a clean conscience. Not that I care, but either he was willingly complicit or he was used. The fact that his trip was paid for by his partner's newspaper makes that much explicit.

...need more be said? You folks have been fed on a steady diet of UN paranoia. Why waste time, money & processing power spying on a rubber-stamp legislature filled with the verbally incontinent? Might as well hack Sy Sperling's VPN to listen in on his marketing team discussing sales strategies for his new line of Hair club for men products....The fact that the Chinese are also doing this is an indication that their runaway govt. bureaucracy has outlived its usefulness. Just to remind you, while the the US was regaled with tales of secret UN this plans for world domination, black helicopters, etc. The Soviet Union failed without so much as a notice from the NSA, the CIA & the balance of your alphabet-soup agencies. You're paying attention to things that do not matter in the least, while avoiding the things that do. In all of its history, the UN has been a pawn of the security council; two of its members have now been found spying on the same august body they co-control.

acting in capacity of a data mule? a big so what. The cops were in their rights to do this, and frankly anyone seeking to distribute or help in acquisition of stolen data is a criminal. The press as a 3rd estate is a horrible idea - might as well trust the paparazzi with your kids' colonoscopy video.

"David Miranda was stopped by officers and informed that he would be questioned under the Terrorism Act 2000. The 28-year-old was held for nine hours, the maximum the law allows before officers must release or formally arrest the individual" " you have the right to wear fruit on your head. you have the right to be represented by a transvestite you have the right to dance the cha-cha"