* Lawmaker says would allow “eavesdropping on all of us”
* Similar measure defeated in 2006
* Measure may mirror U.S. law
By Stephen Mangan
LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) – Britain is to allow one of its
intelligence agencies to monitor all phone calls, texts, emails
and online activities in the country to help tackle crime and
militant attacks, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
“It is vital that police and security services are able to
obtain communications data in certain circumstances to
investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the
public,” a Home Office spokesman said.
The proposed law already has drawn strong criticism, from
within the ruling Conservative Party’s own ranks, as an invasion
of privacy and personal rights.
“What the government hasn’t explained is precisely why they
intend to eavesdrop on all of us without even going to a judge
for a warrant, which is what always used to happen,” Member of
Parliament David Davis told BBC News.
“It is an unnecessary extension of the ability of the state
to snoop on ordinary people,” he said.
New legislation is expected to be announced in the
legislative agenda-setting speech given by the queen in May.
Currently, British agencies can monitor calls and e-mails of
specific individuals who may be under investigation after
obtaining ministerial approval, but expanding that to all
citizens is certain to enrage civil liberties campaigners.
Internet companies would be required to instal hardware
which would allow the Government Communications Headquarters
(GCHQ), referred to as Britain’s electronic ‘listening’ agency,
to gain real-time access to communications data.
The new law would not allow GCHQ to access the content of
emails, calls or messages without a warrant, but it would allow
it to trace who an individual or group was in contact with, how
frequently they communicated and for how long.
The Sunday Times newspaper, which first reported the story,
said some details of the proposals were given to members of the
Britain’s Internet Service Providers’ Association last month.
“As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we
will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows to ensure
that the use of communications data is compatible with the
government’s approach to civil liberties,” the Home Office
spokesman said.
Any proposed legislation changes are likely to face stiff
opposition in both houses of the British Parliament.
A similar proposal was considered by the then-ruling Labour
party in 2006 but was abandoned in the face of fierce opposition
by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, who are junior
partners in the ruling coalition.
The proposed legislation could reflect the U.S. Patriot Act,
controversially introduced six weeks after September 11 in 2001,
to expand the government’s authority to monitor the
communications activity of its citizens.
(Reporting by Stephen Mangan; Editing by Michael Roddy)
