Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2014 /
  • December /
  • UK: Surveillance law allows police to act in an unacceptable way, say MPs - Select committee chairman Keith Vaz says using Ripa to access journalist phone records must cease

UK: Surveillance law allows police to act in an unacceptable way, say MPs - Select committee chairman Keith Vaz says using Ripa to access journalist phone records must cease

06 December 2014

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

"Britain’s surveillance laws, which have recently been used by the police to seize journalists’s phone records in the Plebgate and Huhne cases, are “not fit for purpose” and need urgent reform, a Commons inquiry has found. The Commons home affairs select committee says that the level of secrecy surrounding use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) allows the police to “engage in acts which would be unacceptable in a democracy”.

The committee chairman, Keith Vaz, said the surveillance law was not fit for purpose: “Using Ripa to access telephone records of journalists is wrong and this practice must cease. The inevitable consequence is that this deters whistleblowers from coming forward.” In response Home Office ministers have said they will revise the Ripa rules on communications data requests involving sensitive professions such as journalists and lawyers, and they will launch a consultation on the move before Christmas.

The inquiry found the law enforcement agencies routinely fail to record the professions of those whose communications data records they access under Ripa."

See the article: Surveillance law allows police to act in an unacceptable way, say MPs - Select committee chairman Keith Vaz says using Ripa to access journalist phone records must cease (Guardian, link)

See: Ful-text: Home Affairs Select Committee: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (pdf)

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

EU: <b>“eCall” system</b>: MEPs back deal with Council on automatic emergency call system for cars

Next article 

UK: Chief constable warns against ‘drift towards police state’ - Greater Manchester’s Sir Peter Fahy says it is not the police’s job to define what counts as extremism

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy