Questions over the government's plans to spend £12bn on ascheme to modernise the security forces' ability to listen to
phone callswere raised in a BBC television programme
last night.
The BBC2 programme,
Who's watching you?, reported former spies as well as
SAS soldier-turned-novelist Andy McNab warning that the really
dangerous people no longer used internet, mobile phones or
telephones to communicate. McNab said they exchange information in
face-to-face meetings and whisper in their ear.
David Pepper, former head of
GCHQ, the government's
electronic surveillance agency, told the programme that GCHQ would
lose its ability to tap telephone calls when the core
communications network, BT's telephone system,
switches to using Internet
Protocol to send and receive calls.
This was because the sounds were broken into packets and routed
around the network in a more or less random way before being
reassembled at the message's destination. While in transit, they
are mixed with other content, such as e-mails, video and music in a
single bit stream of signals. This made complete messages hard to
track across the net, he said.
The Home Office recently bowed to pressure to
consult on the proposed Interception Modernisation Programme
(IMP), which some regard as the start of a state-run "Big Brother"
surveillance system. The consultation closes on 20 July.
However, communications service providers such as BT, Virgin
Media and the mobile network operators are already required to
record and keep address and destination details of calls, as well
time and location, for 12 months to comply with European
legislation.