The Home Office intends to allow law enforcement agencies
increased access to data for the purposes of investigating minor
crimes, maintaining public health and safety and collecting taxes
according to a report by The Guardian. This suggests a
controversial move away from recent official statements that the
exercise of such powers would be limited to the prevention of
terrorism.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act provides the
circumstances in which law enforcement agencies can demand
communications data from ISPs. These are wide enough to cover not
just issues of national security, but also the prevention or
detection of crime or disorder, the protection of public health and
safety and the assessment or collection of taxes.
Following the attacks of 11th September, the Government
announced plans for an Anti-Terrorism Bill which implied that there
would be an obligation on service providers to retain all
communications data for a certain period.
Just two weeks ago, in response to fears raised by civil liberties
campaigners, Home Secretary David Blunkett was quoted as saying
that the proposed new powers were needed by law enforcement
agencies “strictly in the case of a criminal investigation against
suspected terrorists.”
However, according to The Guardian, the data retention proposal
will be exploited for all the purposes listed in the RIP Act – i.e.
minor crime, tax assessment etc. The Guardian reports that the new
Bill is due to be considered by a House of Commons Select Committee
tomorrow.
