At an annual forum in which members of the ISP industry meet with
MPs in the House of Lords to discuss the challenges facing the UK
internet industry, representatives have criticised requests
received from police for impossible information, according to a
report in ZDNet.co.uk.
The UK Internet Services Providers Association (ISPA UK) was set
up in 1995 as a trade association to represent UK companies in the
internet sector. The annual Parliamentary ISPA forum is now in its
fifth year. This was the forum's first meeting since the
controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) came
into force in October 2000.
ZDNet.co.uk reports Rachel Basger, regulatory manager of World
Online, as saying that one police officer asked her to locate an
e-mail address from the postcode of someone who was not even a
customer of the ISP. Other ISPs complained of similarly impractical
requests.
ISPA members have called for better observance of customer
rights.
Under the new law, ISPs can be served with notices that demand
their assistance in intercepting the communications of individuals
who are named in interception warrants made pursuant to the
Act.
The notices can be used by security agencies to procure
information to detect or prevent serious crime, in the interests of
national security or to safeguard the economic well-being of the
UK.
The Act requires that the notice states the person or premises
to be intercepted together with details of the communications to be
intercepted.
The Act places the burden on the ISPs served with notices to
provide the necessary interception equipment. While financial
assistance is available from the Secretary of State, there has been
no guidance to date on how much will be available or the criteria
on which any such application will be judged.
