THE OBSERVER

Secret plan to spy on
all British phone
calls

http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,406191,00.html

Kamal Ahmed, political editor
Sunday December 3, 2000

Britain's intelligence services are seeking
powers to seize all records of telephone
calls, emails and internet connections
made by every person living in this
country.

A document circulated to Home Office
officials and obtained by The Observer
reveals that MI5, MI6 and the police are
demanding new legislation to log every
phone call made in this country and store
the information for seven years at a vast
government-run 'data warehouse', a super
computer that will hold the information.

The secret moves, which will cost millions
of pounds, were last night condemned by
politicians and campaigners as a sinister
expansion of 'Big Brother' state powers
and a fundamental attack on the public's
right to privacy.

Last night, the Home Office admitted that
it was giving the plans serious
consideration.

Lord Cope, the Conservative peer and a
leading expert on privacy issues, said:
'We are sympathetic to the need for
greater powers to fight modern types of
crime. But vast banks of information on
every member of the public can quickly
slip into the world of Big Brother. I will be
asking serious questions about this.'
Maurice Frankel, a leading campaigner on
per sonal data issues, called the powers
'sweeping' and a cause for worry.

The document, which is classified
'restricted', says new laws are needed to
allow the intelligence services, Customs
and Excise and the police access to
telephone and computer records of every
member of the public.

It suggests that the Home Office is
sympathetic to the new powers, which
would be used to tackle the growing
problems of cybercrime, the use of
computers by paedophiles to run child
pornography rings, as well as terrorism
and international drug trafficking.

Every telephone call made and received
by a member of the public, all emails sent
and received and every web page looked
at would be recorded.

Calls made on mobile phones can already
be pinpointed geographically, as can
those made from land lines. The police
would be able to use 'trawling' computer
techniques to look through millions of
telephone and email records.
Campaigners say innocent people could
have such highly personal information
accessed.

The document admits the moves are
controversial and could clash with the
Human Rights Act, which gives people a
right to privacy, European Union law and
the Data Protection Act, which protects
the public against official intrusion into
private lives.

The office of the Data Protection
Commissioner, Elizabeth France, has
already expressed 'grave concerns' .

'A clear legislative framework needs to be
agreed as a matter of urgency,' says the
document, which is dated 10 August and
is thought to have been sent to Home
Office Minister Charles Clarke.

'Why should data be retained? In the
interests of justice, to preserve and
protect data for use as evidence to
establish proof of innocence or guilt. For
intelligence and evidence gathering
purposes, to maintain the effectiveness of
UK law enforcement, intelligence and
security agencies to protect society.'

The document is written by Roger Gaspar,
the deputy director-general of the National
Criminal Intelligence Service, the
Government agency that oversees
criminal intelligence in the United
Kingdom. Gaspar, as head of intelligence
for NCIS, is one of the most powerful and
influential men in the field.

The report says it is written 'on behalf of
Acpo [the Association of Chief Police
Officers], HM Customs and Excise,
security service, secret intelligence
service and GCHQ [the Government's
secret listening centre based at
Cheltenham]'.

Gaspar argues telephone companies
should be ordered to retain all records of
phone calls and internet access.

At the moment many telephone and
internet service providers keep data for as
little as 24 hours.

'In the interests of verifying the accuracy
of data specifically provided for either
intelligence or evidential purposes, CSPs
[communication service providers such as
telephone or internet companies] should
be under an obligation to retain the
original data supplied for a period of seven
years or for as long as the prosecuting
authority directs,' the document says.

'Informal discussions have taken place
with the office of the data protection
commissioner. Whilst they acknowledge
that such communications data may be of
value to the work of the agencies and the
interests of justice they have grave
reservations about longer term data
retention.' The document says the new
data warehouse would be run along
similar lines to the National DNA
Database for profiles of known criminals.

It would cost about #3 million to set up
and #9m a year to run.

The report demands that the Government
'should be prepared to defend our
position'.

A spokesman for NCIS refused to be
drawn on the report. 'I am not going to
comment on a classified document that is
in unauthorised hands,' he said.

Meanwhile a Home Office spokesman
said it had received the proposals and
was considering them.

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