UK to store all phone, email records

For the first time, Britain plans to store details of all phone calls, text messages, emails and websites visited online as part of the government's new anti-terror plans, says a media report.

Landline and mobile phone companies and broadband providers will be ordered to store the data for a year and make it available to the security services under the scheme.

The databases would not record the contents of calls, texts or emails but the numbers or email addresses of who they are sent and received by, the 'Daily Telegraph' reported.

UK's security services will have widespread access to information about who has been communicating with each other on social networking sites such as Facebook. Direct messages between subscribers to websites like Twitter would also be stored, as well as communications between players in online video games, the report said.

It is certain to cause controversy over civil liberties - but also raise concerns over security of records.

The plan has been drawn up on the advice of MI5, the home security,the home security service, MI6, which operates abroad, and GCHQ, the government's 'listening post' to monitor communications.