Welcome to my life. When the Patriot Act was approved (back after 9/11), I was head of IT for a private university and had to go into a 3 day training course to learn how to respond to requests for student's digital data (email, browsing history, etc.). Gave me the creeps.

From what you've described, it sounds to me like the U.K. now has its own form of the Patriot Act. Tell me, is the government allowed to look at your library records (what books you read)?