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CYBER-SOCIETY-LIVE  2001

CYBER-SOCIETY-LIVE 2001

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Subject:

[CSL]: UK Police get sweeping access to net data

From:

John Armitage <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

The Cyber-Society-Live mailing list is a moderated discussion list for those interested <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 8 Nov 2001 08:37:54 -0000

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (101 lines)

Police get sweeping access to net data
http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,589006,00.html

Blunkett will not limit scope of measure to terrorist cases

Stuart Millar, technology correspondent
Wednesday November 7, 2001
The Guardian

Sweeping proposals to give law enforcement agencies access to the
communications records of every UK telephone and
internet user will not be restricted to anti-terrorist investigations,
despite assurances to the contrary from the home secretary.

The Guardian has established that the detailed communications data to be
retained as part of the government's response to
the September 11 attacks will be available to police investigating minor
crimes. It will also be available for tax collection and
public health and safety purposes.

Home Office officials involved in implementing the proposals in a voluntary
code of practice with the providers have confirmed
there are no plans to limit access to cases involving national security.

This directly contradicts what appeared to be an assurance given by David
Blunkett, the home secretary, two weeks ago in an
attempt to soothe the fears of civil liberties campaigners about the privacy
implications of blanket data retention.

In his column in Tribune on October 26, Mr Blunkett acknowledged that
internet and phone data retention raised serious
concerns.

But he said that more information was needed than was available under
current law "strictly in the case of a criminal
investigation against suspected terrorists.

"That is why we are working with companies on a code of practice with the
result they will keep billing records for longer than
at present, to allow access in relation to anti-terrorist activity".

According to the Foundation for Information Policy Research, an independent
internet think tank, data involved would provide a
"complete map of an individual's life".

It is likely to include details of email addresses they have communicated
with, which internet service providers they use, when
they used them and which sites they visited while online. Officials now
claim that Mr Blunkett did not actually mean that the
information would only be used for anti-terrorist investigations.

Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, passed last year, law
enforcement agencies can obtain communications
data without a court order for a broad range of purposes. These include
national security, preventing or detecting crime and
disorder, protecting public health and safety and collecting tax.

One official told the Guardian: "The data will be available for the full
range of purposes listed in the act."

Mark Seddon, the editor of Tribune and a member of Labour's national
executive committee, said: "He would have known that
all the civil liberties campaigners like Liberty would have read Tribune and
that piece would have done the rounds."

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "We
understand the argument for data retention for
specific purposes under terror legislation for the period of an emergency.
There is a different argument, with much less
justification, for general powers from now, in theory, until eternity."

The development is likely to cause consternation among some internet and
phone companies.

Steve Rawlinson, chief technical officer of Claranet, which has about
500,000 customers in the UK, said: "The request that
came through after the US attacks to collect certain types of data was
reasonable because it was being used for an
anti-terrorist investigation.

"What worries us is that under Ripa [the act], the criteria for access are
pretty broad, so the police can demand the whole lot
whenever they want on their own authority."

Tomorrow, the Commons home affairs committee will begin hearing evidence as
it considers the emergency anti-terror bill,
which is expected to be passed later this month.

Last night a Home Office spokeswoman denied that Mr Blunkett had intended
the Tribune article to mean that the information
would only be used against suspected terrorists. She said: "The article was
by necessity an abridged version of the proposals
we are bringing forward."

************************************************************************************
Distributed through Cyber-Society-Live [CSL]: CSL is a moderated discussion
list made up of people who are interested in the interdisciplinary academic
study of Cyber Society in all its manifestations.To join the list please visit:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/cyber-society-live.html
*************************************************************************************

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