If you ever get the feeling you are being snooped on, it is probably because you are. We reveal today that the police, local councils and a host of other public bodies are making more than 1,000 requests a day – over half a million a year – to examine our telephone records or to find out to whom we are sending emails. That is the equivalent of one adult in every 78 being spied upon. This level of surveillance would be familiar to the stasi in the old East Germany but in a liberal democracy that prides itself on its freedoms, it is deeply troubling.
This assault on our privacy is authorised by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000. The measure is frequently described as anti-terrorist legislation that has been hijacked by public bodies but it is no such thing. It was enacted the year before the 9/11 attacks and was an attempt by the Government to control the wide range of powers already available to public bodies to dig and delve into people's lives. Admittedly, the terrorist alert did lead to a dramatic extension of the numbers of bodies able to use RIPA – they now total 795 and include all local authorities.
And it seems that it is local authorities that are most enthusiastic to use – and abuse – these powers. We reported earlier this year the wide use of undercover operations by council staff for often the most banal reasons such as dog fouling. Undercover methods are warranted when it comes to detecting benefit cheats, fly-tippers or trading standards offences, but dog dirt? A sense of proportion is required here and it is obvious that in too many cases, it is absent.
This is a particular cause of concern when it comes to communications. RIPA empowers designated bodies to demand from providers the details of customer activity – not the content of calls or emails, but their timing and destination. While the great majority of the 504,073 such requests last year were made by the police and security services, more than 1,500 were made by local councils. Many people will be uncomfortable with that. Those given the task of maintaining law and order and preserving the security of the state operate on a different plane to the people who empty our dustbins. The problem with RIPA is that it has succeeded in blurring that distinction.
We are currently awaiting the outcome of a Home Office review into the working of RIPA which looked both at the number of bodies given snooping powers by the Act and the seniority of officials authorised to use its powers. The essence of any reform should be that it ensures that the use of such intrusive measures by public bodies will always be exceptional, rather than routine ... read more ...