Category: investigatory powers

What does ‘surveillance’ mean? – Panopticon

Posted July 30th, 2013 in consent, human rights, investigatory powers, news by sally

“A five-member panel of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal last week issued its decision in Re: a Complaint of Surveillance (case no: IPT/A1/2013). The decision was on a preliminary point arising from this sort of factual scenario: suppose you voluntarily participate in an interview with policing/investigatory authorities but, unbeknownst to you, the investigators use a device to record that interview? Would this act of recording constitute ‘surveillance’ for the purposes of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), such that it requires authorisation (assuming it to be ‘directed’) was required? Would it engage your rights under Article 8 ECHR?”

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Panopticon, 29th July 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

IPCC to investigate Hillsborough police offier Sir Norman Bettison over report on anti-racism campaigner – The Independent

Posted July 29th, 2013 in complaints, evidence, investigatory powers, news, police, race discrimination, reports by sally

“The former Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, Sir Norman Bettison, is to be investigated over claims he ordered his officers to compile a detailed report on the anti-racism campaigner Mohammed Amran, before he testified to the Macpherson Inquiry into the death of the teenager Stephen Lawrence.”

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The Independent, 26th July 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Privacy campaigners demand review of snooping laws – The Guardian

Posted July 15th, 2013 in bills, data protection, human rights, intelligence services, interception, internet, interpretation, investigatory powers, news, privacy, telecommunications, whistleblowers by sally

“Seven of the UK’s leading human rights groups and privacy campaigners have demanded an urgent review of the laws being used to authorise the mass collection and analysis of data by Britain’s spy centre, GCHQ.”

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The Guardian, 14th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Misuse of stop and search powers risks undermining police, says watchdog – The Guardian

Posted July 9th, 2013 in investigatory powers, news, police, race discrimination, reports, stop and search by sally

“The misuse of ‘intrusive and contentious’ stop and search powers is threatening to undermine the legitimacy of the police, an official watchdog has warned.”

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The Guardian, 9th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

CPS may bring first case against Metropolitan police spy – The Guardian

Posted July 5th, 2013 in investigatory powers, misfeasance in public office, news, police, prosecutions by tracey

“Prosecutors are considering launching the first case against an undercover police officer deployed to infiltrate political campaigns. The Crown Prosecution Service is examining allegations of wrongdoing by Jim Boyling, a former member of a covert Metropolitan police unit which planted undercover officers in political groups for four decades.”

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The Guardian, 5th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

National Security and Civil Liberties – Getting the balance right – Home Office

Posted July 4th, 2013 in human rights, intelligence services, investigatory powers, news, proportionality, speeches, terrorism by sally

“Speech on national security by Security Minister James Brokenshire to National Security Summit at Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre on 3 July Originally given at London. This is a transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered.”

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Home Office, 3rd July 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Stop and search: home secretary launches consultation on police powers – The Guardian

Posted July 3rd, 2013 in consultations, investigatory powers, minorities, news, police, statistics, stop and search by sally

“The home secretary, Theresa May, has launched a six-week consultation over the future of police stop-and-search powers after telling MPs that black people were still seven times more likely to be searched on the street than white people.”

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The Guardian, 2nd July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina v Edmondson; Regina v Weatherup; Regina v Brooks; Regina v Coulson; Regina v Kuttner – WLR Daily

Posted July 2nd, 2013 in appeals, crime, evidence, interception, investigatory powers, law reports, telecommunications by sally

Regina v Edmondson; Regina v Weatherup; Regina v Brooks; Regina v Coulson; Regina v Kuttner [2013] EWCA Crim 1026; [2013] WLR (D) 262

“A voicemail message which had been received by the intended recipient and subsequently stored in the telecommunications system of the network provider so that the intended recipient might thereafter have continued access to it by playing back the message, remained “in the course of transmission”. The interception of such a voicemail message intentionally and without lawful authority was therefore an offence contrary to section 1 of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.”

WLR Daily, 28th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

RIPA: hacked voicemails and undercover officers – Panopticon

Posted July 1st, 2013 in appeals, conspiracy, human rights, interception, investigatory powers, jurisdiction, media, news, police, privacy, telecommunications by tracey

“The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) has featured prominently in the news in recent weeks, both as regards undercover police officers/’covert human intelligence sources’ and as regards the phone-hacking scandal.”

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Panopticon, 28th June 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

The sexual behaviour of undercover police fits the definition of rape – The Guardian

Posted June 28th, 2013 in consent, deceit, investigatory powers, news, police, rape, women by tracey

“The case law shows that undercover police officers who slept with protesters are on dangerous legal ground.”

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The Guardian, 28th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stephen Lawrence claims: High Court ‘should approve undercover operations’ – BBC News

Posted June 27th, 2013 in bills, investigatory powers, judiciary, news, police by sally

“Revelations about Stephen Lawrence’s family show police forces should be required to get High Court approval for undercover operations, campaigners say.”

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BBC News, 26th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

With the Met, if you are innocent you have everything to worry about – The Guardian

Posted June 26th, 2013 in intelligence services, investigatory powers, news, police, victims, whistleblowers by sally

“Peter Francis’s revelations show the need for a judicial inquiry – so the public can see how far our democracy has been eroded.”

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The Guardian, 25th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UKBA failed to pursue missing asylum seeker leads – The Independent

Posted June 26th, 2013 in asylum, immigration, investigatory powers, news by sally

“Border officials failed to pursue more than 3,000 leads identified on police databases when attempting to track down missing asylum seekers, an inspector has found.”

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The Independent, 26th June 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Prism: how can this level of state surveillance be legal? – The Guardian

Posted June 19th, 2013 in data protection, human rights, intelligence services, internet, investigatory powers, news, privacy by sally

“It’s hard to see how any system that captures data from millions of law-abiding citizens satisfies our right to privacy”

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The Guardian, 18th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Independent approval for undercover policing – Home Office

Posted June 19th, 2013 in intelligence services, investigatory powers, legislation, news, police by sally

“Damian Green announces proposals for new legislation for undercover policing operations.”

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Home Office, 18th June 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Undercover policing faces tighter regulation after Mark Kennedy scandal – The Guardian

Posted June 19th, 2013 in intelligence services, investigatory powers, news, police, regulations by sally

“Ministers have announced proposals to tighten up the regulation of undercover police following a succession of scandals over the infiltration of protest groups.”

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The Guardian, 18th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Police had ‘no power’ to take ‘kettled’ woman’s details – BBC News

Posted June 18th, 2013 in demonstrations, investigatory powers, London, news, police by sally

“Police officers who took the personal details of a woman ‘kettled’ during a trade union rally in 2011 acted unlawfully, the High Court has ruled.”

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BBC News, 18th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The laws that allow intelligence agencies to spy on foreign diplomats – The Guardian

Posted June 17th, 2013 in diplomats, intelligence services, interception, international law, investigatory powers, news, warrants by sally

“The powers that allow Britain’s intelligence agencies to spy on individuals, including foreign diplomats, were set out in the 1994 Intelligence Services Act (ISA). They were framed in a broad way to allow those involved in espionage to conduct all manner of operations with ministerial authority, and the types of techniques used during the G20 summit four years ago suggest a creativity and technological capability that Ian Fleming could only have dreamed of.”

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The Guardian, 16th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Spying and Surveillance – BBC Unreliable Evidence

Posted June 13th, 2013 in intelligence services, interception, investigatory powers, local government, news, privacy, telecommunications by sally

“Clive Anderson and guests explore the extent to which the law protects our right to privacy in the face of increasing use of covert surveillance by MI5, police, local authorities and other public bodies and commercial organisations.

Clive’s guests, all with wide knowledge of the world of spying and surveillance, warn that the threat to our privacy comes not just from Big Brother, but also from Little Brother and Big Brother PLC. And they argue that the law controlling surveillance is largely inadequate and widely misinterpreted.”

Listen

BBC Unreliable Evidence, 12th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Keir Starmer: terrorists could escape prosecution without ‘snoopers’ charter’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 12th, 2013 in bills, data protection, intelligence services, internet, investigatory powers, news, police, privacy, prosecutions, terrorism by sally

“There is a ‘real risk’ that terrorists could avoid prosecution if proposed internet monitoring powers are abandoned, the country’s top prosecutor has said.”

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Daily Telegraph, 11th June 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk