The government will soon be able to browse your internet and social media history

George Orwell was onto something….

In news that could prompt the fastest obliteration of cookies since a blue character trundled onto Sesame Street, it appears the government is about to grant public bodies the power to go through your internet history.

Set to go through this Wednesday, the legislation would allow dozens of bodies, including the Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, city councils, the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Work and Pensions, to be able to see your web records - this includes websites visited, at what time and the exact pages accessed.

Ironically, even this one.

According to a government source close to The Telegraph, access will be “limited, targeted and strictly controlled" and overseen by a new Investigatory Powers Commissioner - most likely headed up by Home Secretary Theresa May, who so far has made no secret of the government’s intentions regarding web records.

She recently told Andrew Marr that being in the digital age meant people "no longer always communicate on telephone, they communicate over the internet".

"So, what we're talking about is just knowing that first step, that who has been contacted [by whom] or did this particular device access WhatsApp at 13.10 or Facebook at 14.05 - it doesn't go beyond that," she added.

Which is an entirely different school of thought to David Davis, a senior Conservative MP who has pointed out that the new law could lead to abuse, telling The Telegraph that it’s "a serious amount of information", and he doesn't "think that the British public want councils to have access to this."

What do you think - too much surveillance or not enough?

Let us know your thoughts below.

[Images: Shutterstock]