<nettime> UK, home of surveillance?

["nettime's_roving_reporter" <nettime@bbs.thing.net>]

http://www.observer.co.uk//uk_news/story/0,6903,406191,00.html

Secret plan to spy on all British phone calls

Kamal Ahmed, political editor
Sunday December 3, 2000

Britain's intelligence services are seeking powers to seize all records of
telephone calls, emails and internet connections made by every person
living in this country.

A document circulated to Home Office officials and obtained by The Observer
reveals that MI5, MI6 and the police are demanding new legislation to log
every phone call made in this country and store the information for seven
years at a vast government-run 'data warehouse', a super computer that will
hold the information.

The secret moves, which will cost millions of pounds, were last night
condemned by politicians and campaigners as a sinister expansion of 'Big
Brother' state powers and a fundamental attack on the public's right to
privacy.

Last night, the Home Office admitted that it was giving the plans serious
consideration.

Lord Cope, the Conservative peer and a leading expert on privacy issues,
said: 'We are sympathetic to the need for greater powers to fight modern
types of crime. But vast banks of information on every member of the public
can quickly slip into the world of Big Brother. I will be asking serious
questions about this.' Maurice Frankel, a leading campaigner on per sonal
data issues, called the powers 'sweeping' and a cause for worry.

The document, which is classified 'restricted', says new laws are needed to
allow the intelligence services, Customs and Excise and the police access
to telephone and computer records of every member of the public.

It suggests that the Home Office is sympathetic to the new powers, which
would be used to tackle the growing problems of cybercrime, the use of
computers by paedophiles to run child pornography rings, as well as
terrorism and international drug trafficking.

Every telephone call made and received by a member of the public, all
emails sent and received and every web page looked at would be recorded.

Calls made on mobile phones can already be pinpointed geographically, as
can those made from land lines. The police would be able to use 'trawling'
computer techniques to look through millions of telephone and email
records. Campaigners say innocent people could have such highly personal
information accessed.

The document admits the moves are controversial and could clash with the
Human Rights Act, which gives people a right to privacy, European Union law
and the Data Protection Act, which protects the public against official
intrusion into private lives.

The office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Elizabeth France, has
already expressed 'grave concerns' .

'A clear legislative framework needs to be agreed as a matter of urgency,'
says the document, which is dated 10 August and is thought to have been
sent to Home Office Minister Charles Clarke.

'Why should data be retained? In the interests of justice, to preserve and
protect data for use as evidence to establish proof of innocence or guilt.
For intelligence and evidence gathering purposes, to maintain the
effectiveness of UK law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies to
protect society.'

The document is written by Roger Gaspar, the deputy director-general of the
National Criminal Intelligence Service, the Government agency that oversees
criminal intelligence in the United Kingdom. Gaspar, as head of
intelligence for NCIS, is one of the most powerful and influential men in
the field.

The report says it is written 'on behalf of Acpo [the Association of Chief
Police Officers], HM Customs and Excise, security service, secret
intelligence service and GCHQ [the Government's secret listening centre
based at Cheltenham]'.

Gaspar argues telephone companies should be ordered to retain all records
of phone calls and internet access.

At the moment many telephone and internet service providers keep data for
as little as 24 hours.

'In the interests of verifying the accuracy of data specifically provided
for either intelligence or evidential purposes, CSPs [communication service
providers such as telephone or internet companies] should be under an
obligation to retain the original data supplied for a period of seven years
or for as long as the prosecuting authority directs,' the document says.

'Informal discussions have taken place with the office of the data
protection commissioner. Whilst they acknowledge that such communications
data may be of value to the work of the agencies and the interests of
justice they have grave reservations about longer term data retention.' The
document says the new data warehouse would be run along similar lines to
the National DNA Database for profiles of known criminals.

It would cost about £3 million to set up and £9m a year to run.

The report demands that the Government 'should be prepared to defend our
position'.

A spokesman for NCIS refused to be drawn on the report. 'I am not going to
comment on a classified document that is in unauthorised hands,' he said.

Meanwhile a Home Office spokesman said it had received the proposals and
was considering them.

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