Investigatory Powers Bill looks set to become law

The controversial Investigatory Powers Bill (IP Bill) has been passed by both houses of Parliament and is likely to become law, but opposition by human rights and privacy campaigners remains high.

Now the bill has been passed by the House of Lords, all that remains before it receives royal assent to become law is a consideration of amendments by both houses.

This means the bill, also known as the Snoopers’ Charter, is likely to become law before the end of 2016 in line with the government’s target to have legislation in place before the expiry of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (Dripa) that was rushed through Parliament in July 2014.

The Home Office, which is responsible for the IP Bill introduced by Theresa May while still home secretary, claimed the bill was necessary to protect the country’s national security, and had sufficient oversight for the surveillance powers it gave. But civil rights groups have said the powers are draconian and too intrusive.

The IP Bill grants intelligence agencies the ability to obtain and use bulk personal datasets that will include mostly individuals who are not suspected in any wrongdoing.

In August 2016, a report by David Anderson, Queen’s Counsel, said there was no alternative to the controversial bulk surveillance powers proposed in the bill, but human rights group Liberty said there was no compelling operational case for each of the IP Bill’s bulk powers.

For each bulk power, Liberty said, an exploration of the technical options available to our spies shows that a targeted approach would do the job just as well.

IT service providers and privacy campaigners alike have expressed concerns about “equipment interference” provisions allowing security services to hack into computers, networks and mobile devices.

But supporters of the bill have argued there is more oversight than ever before, pointing out that security and intelligence agencies must apply for a warrant from the secretary of state and these groups are the only people who can complete bulk hacks.

Former government communications headquarters (GCHQ) head David Omand told a security conference in London in October 2016 that the UK would be the first country in Europe to legislate and regulate digital intelligence, and put it under judicial supervision with judicial review.

The bill introduces the new roles of an investigatory powers commissioner and judicial commissioners to approve warrants and handle issues that arise from the new powers. The commissioner will also audit compliance, undertake investigations, issue public reports, and publish guidance on the proper use of investigatory powers where necessary.

Another controversial provision of the bill is that security services and police forces will be able to access communications data, which means internet history data will have to be stored for 12 months. Communications service providers will also have to store metadata about the communications made through their services.