British court rules against electronic mass surveillance

‘landmark case’

London • The court that oversees intelligence agencies in Britain ruled Friday electronic mass surveillance of cellphone and other online communications data had been conducted unlawfully.

The legal decision, the first time the court has ruled against the British intelligence services since the tribunal was created in 2000, relates to information shared between British security agencies and the National Security Agency before December 2014.

Although privacy campaigners hailed the decision as a victory, many experts said the British and U.S. intelligence agencies would continue to share information obtained with electronic surveillance, even if they had to modify their techniques to comply with human rights law.

“It’s a real landmark case,” said Ian Brown, a professor of information security and privacy at the University of Oxford. “This will not stop intelligence agencies from sharing information. But it’s unlikely they will be able to conduct large-scale uncontrolled intelligence activities without more oversight.”

In the past decade, British and U.S. intelligence agencies have used a program known as Prism and others like it to gain access to individuals’ Internet communications without their knowledge.

The British court found the intelligence agency, Government Communications Headquarters, had unlawfully retrieved information gathered from U.S. surveillance programs before the end of 2014. In doing so, GCHQ had broken European human rights law because there was not enough oversight regarding the way in which the information had been collected from U.S. agencies.

“For far too long, intelligence agencies like GCHQ and NSA have acted like they are above the law,” said Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International, one of the groups that brought the case.

“Over the past decade, GCHQ and the NSA have been engaged in an illegal mass surveillance sharing program that has affected millions of people around the world.”

The same court, however, ruled last year U.S. and British intelligence agencies could continue to lawfully share information because the oversight of the data-collection program had been brought into compliance with European law.

GCHQ said the court’s ruling would allow the vast surveillance techniques to continue.

“We are pleased that the court has once again ruled that the U.K.’s bulk interception regime is fully lawful,” it said, referring to the December ruling.

“By its nature, much of GCHQ’s work must remain secret. But we are working with the rest of government to improve public understanding about what we do.”