§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests there have been for Communications data and its equivalent under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 in the last year by the(a) Customs and Excise, (b) Inland Revenue,(c) Department of Social Security, (d) Metropolitan Police and (e) Egg Inspectorate. [132810]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe provision of communications data is not covered by the Interception of Communications Act 1985. The law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies currently rely on arrangements governed by the Data Protection Act 1998. A central record of requests is not kept by the Home Office. In order to provide greater safeguards for the provision of communications data Part 1, Chapter II of the Regulation of the Investigatory Powers Bill ensures that requests for such data are made in a closely controlled manner and for a number of limited specific purposes.