Government postpones new surveillance powers

The UK Government has bowed to public pressure and postponed a draft law which would have amended the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act by dramatically increasing the range of official bodies that can access certain information on individuals held by ISPs or telcos.

Background

The RIP Act, passed in 2000, gave the police and other law enforcement and intelligence bodies, Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue access to records such as phone numbers dialled, web sites visited and e-mail addresses used in correspondence by individuals.

The draft law

The RIP (Communications Data: Additional Public Authorities) Order of 2002 was published earlier this month, extending the powers to include, among others: the Departments of Health, Environment, Trade and Industry and Enterprise, the Home Office, local authorities and councils, the Financial Services Agency, the Food Standards Agency, the Information Commissioner, the Office of Fair Trading and bodies regulated by the Postal Services Act, such as Consignia, formerly the Post Office.

Reaction to the draft

The publication of the draft Order met with widespread criticism that the Order represented a fundamental breach of civil liberties. Parliament was first scheduled to debate the Order yesterday. The debate was then postponed for a week.

However, Home Secretary David Blunkett yesterday announced that the proposal has instead been withdrawn “for detailed consultation over the Summer.”
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