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'Reckless' Police Scotland spied on journalist's sources and breached communication rules, watchdog probe finds

25 November 2015

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"SCOTLAND’S police force has admitted spying on the sources of journalists. They’ve been found to have breached communications rules in a major investigation by a watchdog that’s branded them “reckless”. Police Scotland didn’t follow guidelines on five occasions while investigating how information relating to a case made it into the public domain.

A report by the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office (IOCCO) said they failed to seek judicial approval during efforts to find the source a journalist had used for a news story. The Rt Hon. Sir Stanley Burnton, Interception of Communications Commissioner, said today: “It is evident from these applications that Police Scotland sought communications data in order to determine either a journalist’s source or the communications of those suspected to have been acting as intermediaries between a journalist and a suspected source.”

He added: “I am satisfied that four individuals were adversely affected by these contraventions and that the failures identified can properly be viewed as reckless"

See the story: 'Reckless' Police Scotland spied on journalist's sources and breached communication rules, watchdog probe finds (Daily Record, link)

And see Press release: Statement by the Interception of Communications Commissioner (pdf), and: Full report (55 pages, pdf)

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