§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of the use his Department, its agencies and public bodies will make of the powers relating to the authorised obtaining of communications data in Part I, Chapter II of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill once the Bill is enacted. [119510]
§ Mr. StrawPart I, Chapter II of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill provides the law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies with the power to require communications data, such as subscriber details and itemised billing, in a closely controlled manner and for a number of specific purposes such as preventing or detecting crime.
The Bill provides greater safeguards than those which are currently in place for the provision of such data under the Data Protection Act regime, but the purposes for which it may be obtained under the new legislation are very similar. As a result, I do not expect any significant change in the extent to which communications data are obtained.