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UK-USA: Wire tapping reports

01 May 2007

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It is salutary to compare the official reports provided on telephone-tapping and interception in the UK and the USA. In the USA a highly detailed report with tables including historical data (ie: how many arrests and convictions resulted) are provided: 2005 Wiretap report (Overview, pdf), Historical data (pdf) and 2005 Wiretap Report - Administrative Office of the United States Courts (link to detailed tables of information). In 2005 there were 1,773 authorised interception warrants in the USA, compared to the UK's 1,926: Interception of Communications Commissioner. In the USA warrants are authorised by the courts, in the UK by the Home Secretary. The way UK warrants are issued and the length of time is also different, see: Changes in telephone-tapping warrant procedures disguises true figures

The UK figures do not include warrants issued by the Foreign Office to GCHQ and MI6 nor those issued by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, similarly surveillance by US security and intelligence agencies are not fully accounted for. See also: Statewatch's Observatory on telephone-tapping warrants 1937-2005/6

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