Half of councils use anti-terror laws to spy on ‘bin crimes’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 3rd, 2008 in investigatory powers, local government, news by sally

“More than half of councils are using anti-terror laws to spy on families suspected of ‘bin crimes’, it has emerged.”

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Daily Telegraph, 1st November 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Prosecutor’s security state fears – BBC News

Posted October 21st, 2008 in internet, investigatory powers, news, telecommunications by sally

“The outgoing chief prosecutor for England and Wales has warned against a security state amid fear of terrorism.”

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BBC News, 20th October 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Home Office in revolt at Smith’s plan for ‘Big Brother’ database – The Independent

Posted October 21st, 2008 in internet, investigatory powers, news, telecommunications by sally

“Senior Home Office officials have expressed concern about the Government’s controversial plans to set up a new ‘Big Brother’ national database, according to a leaked memo.”

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The Independent, 20th October 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Security services want personal data from sites like Facebook – The Guardian

Posted October 15th, 2008 in internet, investigatory powers, news by sally

“The government is drawing up plans to give the police and security and intelligence agencies new powers to access personal data held by internet services, including social network sites such as Facebook and Bebo and gaming networks.”

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The Guardian, 15th October 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

R v S (F) and A(S) – WLR Daily

Posted October 13th, 2008 in encryption, evidence, investigatory powers, law reports, self-incrimination by sally

R v S (F) and A(S); [2008] WLR (D) 313

“The key or password to an encrypted computer file was a fact which did not constitute an admission of guilt. Only knowledge of it might be incriminating if the data contained incriminating material.”

WLR Daily, 10th October 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Anti-terror laws used by council to spy on unauthorised punting – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 17th, 2008 in closed circuit television, investigatory powers, news by sally

“Covert surveillance was used in a bid to catch independent punt operators collecting customers from undesignated spots along the River Cam in Cambridge.”

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Daily Telegraph, 16th September 2008

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘Snooper’s charter’ to check texts and emails – The Guardian

Posted August 13th, 2008 in data protection, internet, investigatory powers, news by sally

“Local councils, health authorities and hundreds of other public bodies are to be given the power to access details of everyone’s personal text, emails and internet use under Home Office proposals published yesterday.”

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The Guardian, 13th August 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (A) v Director of Establishments of the Security Service – Times Law Reports

Posted August 5th, 2008 in human rights, investigatory powers, jurisdiction, law reports, tribunals by sally

Regina (A) v Director of Establishments of the Security Service

Queen’s Bench Division

“The Investigatory Powers Tribunal did not have exclusive jurisdiction where a claim that a public authority proposed to act in a way incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights brought up matters within its purview.”

The Times, 5th August 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

‘Spying’ requests exceed 500,000 – BBC News

Posted July 23rd, 2008 in interception, investigatory powers, news by sally

“More than 500,000 official ‘spying’ requests for private communications data such as telephone records were made last year, a report says.”

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BBC News, 22nd July 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Juvenile informers are the answer to knife crime wave – The Times

Posted July 17th, 2008 in investigatory powers, news, offensive weapons, young offenders by sally

“There is something very flawed about the Government’s response to knife crime. To be fair, none of the political parties has come up with an effective way of tackling the problem.”

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The Times, 17th July 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Councils warned over spying laws – BBC News

Posted June 24th, 2008 in investigatory powers, local government, news by sally

“Councils in England have been urged to review the way they use surveillance powers to investigate suspected crime.”

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BBC News, 23rd June 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Councils told to stop using spy laws for ‘trivial’ issues – The Guardian

Posted June 23rd, 2008 in investigatory powers, local government, news by sally

“Every council in England will today be instructed to stop using tough laws to spy on people over ‘trivial matters’ such as dog-fouling and litter offences.”

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The Guardian, 23rd June 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Phorm failed to mention ‘illegal’ trials at Home Office meeting in 2007 – The Register

Posted June 18th, 2008 in internet, investigatory powers, news by sally

“The Home Office held a private meeting with Phorm in August last year, but BT’s interception and profiling partner did not disclose that it had completed an allegedly illegal trial of its technology on tens of thousands of unwitting broadband subscribers just weeks earlier.”

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The Register, 18th June 2008

Source: www.theregister.co.uk

Terror law turns thousands of council officials into spies – The Times

Posted May 31st, 2008 in investigatory powers, local government, news by sally

“Thousands of middle managers in local councils are being authorised to spy on people suspected of petty offences using powers designed to prevent crime and terrorism.”

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The Times, 31st May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Do we really need to use these powers to tackle dog fouling? – The Times

Posted May 31st, 2008 in investigatory powers, special report by sally

“Human rights lawyers are increasingly alarmed that a piece of legislation that put state snooping on a legal basis has resulted in a huge expansion of the public sector’s ability to pry into private lives.”

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The Times, 31st May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Spying council to be investigated – BBC News

“A privacy watchdog is to investigate a council that used powers to spy on people, including a family suspected of lying about where they lived.”

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BBC News, 28th May 2008

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Council accused of foul play to catch guilty dog owners – The Guardian

Posted May 22nd, 2008 in closed circuit television, dogs, investigatory powers, news by sally

“Another council has been caught using surveillance laws designed to combat organised criminals – this time to catch dog owners whose pets foul the grass.”

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The Guardian, 22nd May 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘Big Brother’ database for phones and e-mails – The Times

“A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.”

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The Times, 20th May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Anti-terror unit loses surveillance powers to deflect Stockwell criticism – The Times

Posted May 19th, 2008 in investigatory powers, news, police, terrorism by sally

“Scotland Yard’s anti-terror unit has been stripped of its control over covert surveillance teams in an attempt to ward off further criticism over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, The Times has learnt.”

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The Times, 19th May 2008

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Government orders data retention by ISPs – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 16th, 2008 in data protection, investigatory powers, news by sally

“Phone and internet companies will soon be forced to keep logs of internet usage to be made available to the police under a new law announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th May 2008

Source: www.out-law.com