Thomson ReutersPhoto illustration shows USB device being plugged into a laptop computer in BerlinLONDON (Reuters) – Internet companies will have to store customer usage data for up to a year according to a new bill the British government will present to parliament on Wednesday, local newspapers reported.
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The United Kingdom government today published a draft version of the Investigatory Powers Bill setting out a framework for new surveillance powers.
The internet activity of everyone in Britain will have to be stored for a year by service providers, under new surveillance law plans. The Home Secretary said this is “simply the modern equivalent of an itemized phone bill”, but this is an argument that is unlikely to hold water with many people.
“It’s such a huge shift we’ve had in communications -comparing it with phone records completely underestimates what’s in there”.
It was also confirmed that the legislation will contain a requirement for internet companies to retain internet connection records for a maximum period of 12 months.
“But I am also clear that the exercise and scope of investigatory powers should be clearly set out and subject to stringent safeguards and robust oversight, including “double-lock” authorisation for the most intrusive capabilities”, he said.
Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden described in a tweet the United Kingdom bill as legitimising mass snooping.
United Kingdom government sources said it would be “unlawful for councils to access communications data for trivial matters” under provisions included in the draft bill. That will include not only bulk interception provided under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and which is vital to the work of GCHQ, but also the acquisition of bulk communications data, both relating to the United Kingdom and overseas.
When police or security agencies apply to intercept someone’s communications, their plans would have to be first signed off by the home secretary – as is now the case – but then approved by one of these judges, something which has been termed a “double lock”.
He said that communications data – in the form of telephone records – could be used to prove that under current laws governing the old technology. And spying on lawmakers would require the approval of the prime minister. It replaces a tougher draft, dubbed the “Snoopers Charter” by critics, that was killed off in 2013 by the Liberal Democrats, who at the time shared power with the Conservatives.
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But Shami Chakrabarti of rights group Liberty said the legislation was “a breathtaking attack on the Internet security of every man, woman and child in our country”.
