[Infowarrior] - UK gov outlines national comms surveillance plan

[Richard Forno]

Government gives more detail on communications surveillance plan

OUT-LAW News, 16/10/2008

http://www.out-law.com//default.aspx?page=9515

The Government has postponed planned legislation which could create a  
giant central database containing records of every email, web session  
and phone call made in the UK.

The Government said before summer that it would create new  
communications legislation that would make the recording of the fact  
of communications, though not their content, compulsory.

It has emerged that that law had been planned for the end of this year  
but will now be postponed until next year following consultation.

Government sources have told reporters that one option is to create a  
single, Government-operated database of call and web use records but  
that there would be a public consultation on measures before the law  
is passed.

The Government has announced that any law would extend the powers of  
communications logging so that they could track the use of  
communications through websites such as social networking sites.

Law enforcement agencies can currently gain access to records kept by  
telecoms providers about which number or computer contacted which  
other number or computer, for how long and when as well as any  
location data that the operator has.

Providers are compensated by the state for the costs of providing such  
information. One current Home Office proposal, sources have told  
reporters, is that a single public database would track and provide  
that information.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told think-tank the Institute for Public  
Policy Research yesterday that the Government would act on  
communications surveillance and would extend the reach into new forms  
of communication.

"Our ability to intercept communications and obtain communications  
data is vital to fighting terrorism and combating serious crime,  
including child sex abuse, murder and drugs trafficking," said Smith.

"Communications Data – that is, data about calls, such as the location  
and identity of the caller, not the content of the calls themselves –  
is used as important evidence in 95% of serious crime cases and in  
almost all Security Service operations since 2004."

"But the communications revolution has been rapid in this country and  
the way in which we intercept communications and collect  
communications data needs to change too. If it does not we will lose  
this vital capability that we currently have and that we all take for  
granted," she said.

Authorities' use of information on phone calls and web use is possible  
because companies track usage data for billing purposes. That is not  
true of alternative messaging systems such as internet-based phone  
technology or social networking messaging and the Government is said  
to be keen to track such use.

The changes will be part of the Data Communications Bill, which will  
also transpose into UK law the EU's Data Retention Directive. This  
asks member states to make it a legal requirement that communications  
records are kept for between six and 24 months, though it does not  
require that the information be kept on a Government database.

Privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said  
earlier this year that it opposed the creation of a new single  
database containing communications records.

‘If the intention is to bring all mobile and internet records together  
under one system, this would give us serious concerns and may well be  
a step too far," said Jonathan Bamford, assistant Information  
Commissioner. "We are not aware of any justification for the state to  
hold every UK citizen’s phone and internet records."

Smith said that a consultation on the new law would take place in the  
New Year.