§ 7. Mr. Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam)What the impact is on the Government secure intranet of the implementation of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [144204]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. Graham Stringer)The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act has had a minor impact on the Government secure intranet. The lawful business practice regulations—the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000—authorise interception of communications in certain cases that would otherwise be prohibited by section 1 of the Act. Where such cases apply to the Government secure intranet, obligations under relevant laws will, of course, be met.
§ Mr. AllanThis is obviously a complex technical issue. If the Minister does not have the facts at his fingertips, will he undertake to write to me about certain aspects of the implementation of the Act? First, what is the Government's policy on retaining data on the GSI to comply with requests from the law enforcement agencies? Secondly, what is their policy on intercepting e-mails from their employees in the Departments that use the GSI? Finally, what are their estimates of the costs to the GSI of complying with requests from the law enforcement agencies?
§ Mr. StringerAs the hon. Gentleman said, those are highly detailed and technical questions, and I am happy to write to him on those issues.