HC Deb 04 July 2002 vol 388 cc529-31W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to allow(a) the police and (b) other regulatory or investigatory agencies of the state to intercept the e-mails and internet communications to internet websites of private individuals; and if he will make a statement. [62053]

Mr. Blunkett

Authority to intercept communications can only be given by the Secretary of State personally. Where the warrant is the result of a request for assistance made under an international mutual assistance agreement and where the subject or premises to which the interception relates appear to be outside the United Kingdom, authority may be given by a senior official. Such authority can only be given to those persons specified in Section 6(2) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. They arethe Director-General of the Security Service; the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service; the Director of the Government Communications Head Quarters; the Director-General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service; the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (now the Police Service of Northern Ireland); the chief constable of any police force maintained under or by virtue of section 1 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967; the Commissioners of Customs and Excise; the Chief of Defence Intelligence; and a person who, for the purposes of any international mutual assistance agreement, is the competent authority of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

Authority can only be given where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the interception is necessary:

  1. (a) in the interests of national security;
  2. (b) for the purpose of preventing or detecting serious crime;
  3. (c) for the purpose of safeguarding the economic well being of the United Kingdom;
  4. (d) in circumstances where he would issue a warrant under (b) above, to give effect to an international mutual legal assistance agreement.

The interception of communications is subject to oversight by the Interception of Communications Commissioner.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Interception of Communications: Code of Practice) Order 2002 was laid before Parliament on 8 May 2002. The Code of Practice sets out in further detail the procedure, safeguards and oversight regimes governing the lawful interception of communications in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is being taken to ensure that individuals are protected from invasion of privacy and personal rights when the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is extended. [62675]

Mr. Blunkett

The Government recognise the need to balance respect for personal privacy with legitimate measures to protect the public, especially in the context of rapidly developing technology.

I have therefore decided to bring forward new proposals in this area in the autumn after consultation over the summer.

The aim of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is to provide greater security, clarity and regulation of these activities. First the Act is intended to ensure that: public authorities who have been added can only access communications data for one of the specified purposes in the Act; such access will have to be proportionate to what it seeks to achieve; use of the power will be subject to oversight by the Interception of Communications Commissioner; and anyone who thinks their data has been wrongly accessed will have the right to complain to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he will do to warn users of the Internet that the Government will be monitoring them. [62676]

Mr. Blunkett

There is no question of general monitoring of users of any means of communication in the United Kingdom (UK) including the internet. An agency listed in section 6(2) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which applies for authority to intercept communications must identify either one person or a set of premises as the interception subject. Authority must be given in each case by the Secretary of State personally and will not be given except when the Secretary of State is satisfied that the interception is necessary for a specified purpose and proportionate to what is sought to be achieved. The purposes are the prevention and detection of serious crime, the protection of national security and safeguarding the economic well-being of the United Kingdom. The fact of an individual interception is not, of course, disclosed to the target.

With regard to communications data (i.e. not the content of a communication but data related to it), the aim of Chapter II of Part 1 of RIPA is to provide greater security, clarity and regulation of this activity as well as to introduce proper procedures for oversight and complaints.

In relation to implementation of this part of the Act, I will be bringing forward new proposals in the autumn following detailed public consultation in order to secure public confidence that arrangements balance respect for personal privacy with legitimate measures to protect the public.

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