Recent amendments by the House of Lords to the controversial
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill were yesterday accepted in
full by the House of Commons. The Bill is due to receive Royal
Assent tomorrow, making it a new Act of Parliament. It is not yet
known when the provisions of the Act will be implemented.
Among other matters, the new law gives the police and
intelligence services powers under certain circumstances to
intercept e-mail and to demand keys to encrypted data.
There has been great concern over the intrusion on individuals’
privacy and the potential cost to businesses, particularly ISPs, in
complying with the terms of the legislation. Much of this is due to
the problem of interpreting ambiguous wording in the new law.
The Home Office told OUT-LAW.COM today that the full and final
text of the Act will be available in one week’s time. At present,
the
Bill’s text, incorporating the House of Lords’ amendments to
13th July 2000, is available.
It is likely that certain provisions of the new law will be
introduced later than others. The Secretary of State will determine
the date or dates for bringing the new law into force.
An OUT-LAW article explaining the terms of the new law will be
available soon.
